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A Conversation With Adrian Bush, UT Soccer Coach

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By NICHOLAS J.E. MURRAY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

After reaching the round of 16 in last year's NCAA Division II Tournament, the University of Tampa men's soccer team has opened the season with a 5-1-1 record and is back in the national rankings. With the Division II Final Four being held in Tampa in December, the Spartans could have the opportunity to add to their three national titles on their home field.

Tampa missed out on the NCAA Tournament in former Spartans standout Adrian Bush's first two seasons as coach, but the Spartans are ranked No. 12 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. Before Tampa faces Nova Southeastern tonight at Pepin Stadium at 7, Bush sat down to discuss what he expects for the Spartans the rest of the season.

What were the expectations for this season?

We lost eight starters from the team and brought in 15 new players, and then we had one of our top defenders from last year, Dan Bergstrand, who was an all-conference guy, tear his ACL two weeks before the season. So we are a very young team, we only have two seniors on the team, Lee Inglis and Ryan Maxwell. We had to replace a lot of bodies, and we knew that would be a challenge, but we knew the guys we were bringing in were talented and could get the job done, and so far, I think they've done very well.

There are a lot of locals players, nine in all, on the roster. How important has that been in rebuilding the program?

It's been great, we want to get the Tampa boys and the Florida kids involved. We want players dedicated and committed to the same things we have, good people who are willing to work hard, and that's what we base it on. But we try to find players who have been in solid youth programs that bring that hard-working mentality to it. It's taken us a couple of years, but I think we have a great recruiting class, a bunch of young guys who have taken the step up big-time to start the year off.

You also have a number of players from the Caribbean on the roster. How did that come about?

We've got great contacts down there in Jamaica. The players that we've looked at are guys who've bought it. The guys have done a great job. The school academically is very likeable, and it's a fantastic education, and most of these players do take their education very seriously. They're going to be the first in their families to get their degree, so that fit with our program. It really started with Ryan Maxwell and Ryan Thompson, who were the first Jamaican players, and from there we've added a couple more.

With Lynn ranked No. 2 and Barry No. 25, how strong is the Sunshine State Conference?

It's the best conference in the country. The toughest, hands-down. You look at the results, any given day you don't come to play you can get embarrassed in this conference. There's no easy game, I don't care who you're playing. You can put the teams that come out of this conference and make the tournament, if you put those six teams in different areas, you could see four teams from this conference in the Final Four, easily.

You've already defeated the defending Division II champion, Franklin Pierce, and a ranked West Florida team this season. Has that boosted the team's confidence?

We're not getting ahead of ourselves, we're keeping it very even-keel as to where we're headed. We understand we have some very tough games coming up.

After losing your SSC opener to Saint Leo last week, how important is the game with Nova Southeastern tonight?

Right now, it's the game of the season for us. I did a study, and I looked back in the 25 years of the conference's existence, no team with two losses has ever won the conference, and only four times a team with one loss has won the conference. So if history is correct, you know you can't lose another game or you do not have a chance at winning the conference. It's a must-win. We have to win, and we have to win every conference game from here on out, and that's the attitude we're taking.

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