Come back every Monday for Coaching Staff's Advice on the college recruiting process, what they look for in athletes, and what to expect as a college athlete.

Jason Kilby is going into his 11th year as the University of Mary Washington men's head soccer coach and is currently looking to capture a 1st conference championship in the new Coast 2 Coast (C2C) conference. But he's no stranger to winning–Coach Kilby has already won 3 Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) conference championships and has reached the conference final six times during his tenure. During his time at UMW, he has established a solid foundation with his teams and looks to push the team on into further success in the future. In this interview, Coach Kilby explains how he tries to recruit athletes and what attributes he looks for in certain players. 

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Q: When should kids look to start getting on your radar?

A: So a lot of times, what I'll do is take [contact] information [for players] starting in ninth [and tenth] grade, and kind of track those players so that the players that we find that could possibly meet our needs. [Then] so once they get into more like 11th grade, and we're really focusing on what our needs are for our team, and also really evaluating them into 11th and 12th grade years.

Q: What type of players do you look to bring into UMW?

A: First and foremost, we're looking for really good students. [We also look for] good teammates, guys that are competitive, obviously, [if they] have a skill set, depending on what our needs are positional [needs are]. Overall, good work rate, good attitude. Again, like I said, most importantly, good teammates.

Q: What is the number one thing that you look for in a recruit?

A: We look for guys with high character qualities, you know, attitude and work rate, and honesty. And just guys, again, that are good teammates that are going to bond together to form really positive relationships, which ultimately, propel the team forward to have some success.

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Q: When do you look to offer a recruit a roster spot?

A: So I feel like for us [it's] the spring of their junior year, going into the summer, and also leading through the fall. 

Q: What's the best way for freshmen to settle into your program?

A:  We want to welcome them in a way where our upperclassmen reach out and answer some of their questions. We want our class to feel comfortable. And so if you feel that way [if] you feel comfortable, you're probably going to play well.

Q: What goals do you set for your freshmen class?

A: It's funny, you said that I had a Zoom meeting about three, four weeks ago with our incoming class. I want[ed] them to understand the challenges, like I said earlier about academics, managing travel, managing a very competitive environment with older, more experienced players, and trying to get their heads wrapped around it [all], [and to] understand that it's a four year process, it takes time.

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Q: How do you help kids build on their previous season and progress into next year?

A: We try to give concrete feedback. We are transparent, in a sense of, “hey, this is what we think”, [and] if you can take that information and actually be consistent and do it over time I think [there's] guys that [I] can cite certain players that have had some real success [and] maybe it's taken a year, maybe two. 

Q: How do you set goals for your team?

A: Personally I like it where the team gets together and talks over what they want to accomplish. I think it's important to build the ownership within a team. I think it's more meaningful. [And] I do believe it's the players, the players are driving the ship.

Q: What is the most rewarding thing being a college coach?

A: So there's a couple of things I think one most important is graduating, having success in the classroom. Then the other part now seeing guys that come through, have children come back [to visit]. That's really, really, really special. 

Q: What has been your favorite memory so far coaching at UMW?

A: I think one of the best memories is winning that championship in ‘17. I think it was like 16 years or 17 years before that was the last conference championship Mary Washington had won. And so, just witnessing the players what they put into it, and seeing all that hard work and dedication actually come to fruition, making the NCAA Tournament just that was pretty special.

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* Originally published on July 25, 2022, by Max Brown