After the conclusion of the season, I caught up with AJ McAdams, Plainfield High School's boys soccer coach, while he was on the road to watch a former Plainfield athlete play a soccer game for Rose Hulman. We discussed the season and his background as a coach.
Tell me a bit about your coaching history. Am I correct that you were the soccer coach at Plainfield, left for a bit and then returned this season?
I’ve had a long coaching career. I’ve probably coached longer than I’ve actually taught. My wife and I moved to Indianapolis in 2001 because I was the assistant coach at Butler University for the men’s soccer program. So, at one point, that was the road I thought I was going to go down was college coaching. I really enjoyed it, then got out of it, because I really wanted to be in the classroom, and then I taught at Warren Central High School for nine years. This is actually my third school that I’ve coached at in the Indianapolis area – two years at Warren with the boys, two years at Mooresville with the girls, three years at Plainfield with the girls, and then took a break because I was coaching my sons in club soccer, and then now I’ve come back on the boys side. So, this is my second stint here at Plainfield.
And you teach in the science department at PHS? How long have you been there?
Yes, that’s right. This is year eight at Plainfield, and it’s my 20th year in education.
Do you have family, kids, pets, you’d like to mention?
My wife Karen and I have been married 22 years, and we have two boys – Liam is a freshman at Plainfield who played for me this season, and Aiden is a sixth-grader at the middle school.
How did you get into coaching soccer? Did you play at some level before you started coaching?
Yeah, I played all the way through at the youth level. I’m from Evansville, Indiana, originally so I was lucky because I played on really good club teams and then played at Evansville Memorial High School which traditionally has one of the best soccer programs in the state. I then went on to play at the University of Evansville, which was Division I soccer. At that time, I actually started coaching while I was still in college; coaching my younger sister’s club team while I was still at Evansville. That got me into it very early on. So, I was coaching when I was pretty young.
And then you just kind of followed the path up to the Indy area?
That’s right. When I was still in playing shape, I thought it was smart to get my coaching licenses, so I did my C, B, and A national licenses all in consecutive summers. A is the highest coaching license that you can get. So, I built a lot of connections through that, and that’s sort of how I started the college coaching gig.
So, let’s talk a bit about this season and this year’s team. If you can step back to before the season started, what kind of expectations did you have for this year?
I knew almost everyone on our roster before the season started. I’ve known these kids for a long time. I think everybody knew that it was going to be a huge challenge for two reasons. One, we knew we were going to have an incredibly young team; we graduated like 12 or 13 seniors, which for Plainfield High School, is a huge class. And secondly, we knew our schedule was going to be a killer. So, we knew it was going to be a challenge. But our boys had a great summer, trained hard, got better, and so we felt pretty good going into the season. We felt really good, but we knew it was going to be a super challenge.
So, you mentioned that you knew all of the players on the team. That kind of plays into my next question. If I’m not mistaken, your predecessor, Coach Sheppard, was at PHS for 6 years. What was it like stepping in as the coach of a group that’s been playing together already for several years as the new guy, but then also part of the old guard because you had coached here previously as well.
Actually, I felt like the transition was pretty seamless. Obviously, I love Drew (Sheppard). He was fantastic, and so I would actually go in and play in with them in the offseason, playing indoor and stuff like that. So, I knew all of the guys. Everybody that was going to be on the roster, I think they knew me, too. Actually, I coached a lot of these kids when they were younger in club soccer, so it wasn’t really a big deal. I’d say there were very few guys on the roster that I hadn’t coached before.
If I were to sit down with the boys from your team, what would they tell me is the coaching advice they got from you over and over throughout the season?
Our big mantra was to work hard. We wanted to make sure that we were mentally and physically tough, but also playing soccer the right way That’s one of the things that can be a struggle at times during the season. It was a bit of a switch for them because a lot of these guys were used to playing more of a direct style of soccer, and I don’t really want to do that. I want to make sure we’re keeping possession of the ball, switching the point of attack, so that was probably the message I got out there the most.
What are some highlights from this season that stand out for you?
I think there were a couple. Number one, you look at us compared to other teams in our conference. Nobody played a schedule like ours. So, the one thing I have to say is that I feel like our guys fought hard the entire year and stayed in games even if we didn’t win. They challenged themselves and they played hard. There wasn’t a single point where I felt like our guys gave up on the season, which was a good sign.
Also, I think the Perry win was huge. We haven’t beaten Perry Meridian in years, so to beat them on their turf was great. And at the beginning of the year, we lost to Noblesville 1-0. In many ways, even though it was a lost, it was an accomplishment because Noblesville is the two-time state champs. Our guys played so hard that night and that was the case in a lot of the games we played.
Later, at the end of the year, we tied a really good Westfield team, and I thought that was a really good result. So, there were definitely some highlights. It was a tough season, but I was really proud of the way we played.
What are some things you learned about this team – or from this team – this season that you’ll be able to apply with next year’s squad?
I think I knew this going in, but we were kind of setting the foundation this year for where I see this team going in the future. We’re very fortunate from the standpoint that we have some really great kids in our program, but this was going to be a big learning year. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores that actually got some varsity time, and there’s going to be some good competition for those spots next year.
Just to put things in perspective, our JV team only lost two games this year, and those were to Center Grove and Noblesville. That was it. So, we have a bunch of young guys chomping at the bit. And now with a year under their belt, it’s definitely going to help them out for next year.
And with my younger son playing in middle school, I get a chance to see the kids coming up through that program, and it’s exciting to look ahead at the future of Plainfield boys soccer.
Do you have anything you’d like to say to the seniors on this year’s team, or to the families and fans who’ve supported them along the way?
Yeah, it’s a great group of kids. We had only four of them, which is a very, very small senior class, but these four are definitely going to be missed. Connor Clark, Matthew Haberkorn, Sam Bebe, and Anthony Blissmer. These guys have really been incredible contributors to the program, and all four of them had a really good soccer season. I have to hand it to them, because they all knew it was going to be a challenge, especially with a young team, but they were great leaders. They didn’t give in, they never got negative, so it was a great year.
Really proud of the families, too. Obviously, I’ve known a lot of these families for a long time as well.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Well, I do want to share one thing. We’re very luck to have the support from our administration. Torrey Rodkey was incredible. He was literally out there cutting the soccer field getting it prepared for sectionals. And Pat Cavanaugh is a guy that comes to most of our games, and he’s been outstanding. And obviously, Pat Cooney came out to a lot of our games as well. It’s just great to have that support.
And my coaching staff was also tremendous. We were able to retain Max Flory as our JV coach, and he does a great job with the younger kids. Matt Miller, who played here, served as our goalkeeping coach for the boys and girls. He does an outstanding job. And we also had Kaiah Haberkorn as my varsity assistant, who was a great addition. Kaiah played for me when I was coaching the girls, and I feel pretty confident saying that she was probably the greatest girls soccer player that’s played at Plainfield, so it was really good having her here to work with the guys. It’s nice to see young people coming back and contributing as coaches; that’s something we need.
Coach, I appreciate your time. Congratulations again on a good season.
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