BIRMINGHAM – Life has changed in more ways than one for UAB men’s soccer head coach Jeff Kinney over the last several months. UABSports.com virtually sat down to check in on what has been going on with Coach Kinney since sports were canceled on March 12.
What were you doing when you found out sports were canceled for the rest of the spring?
JK: We had started hearing rumors about it on our return trip from Mercer a few weeks before. Specific teams had reached out saying that their administrations were pulling the plug on the season and they would have to cancel their spring matches with us. Fortunately, we were able to get a game in with the Birmingham Legion the weekend before the news came out. Obviously, it didn’t have as large of an impact on us being a primarily fall sport, but the guys were disappointed.
Was the team able to get in some good practices or scrimmages before things were canceled?
We had been working specifically this spring on ball speed and build up play from the back. We had some miscues early on against Mercer, but as the season progressed the guys did a really good job of building their personal confidence and trying to keep the ball in tighter areas. We were coming off of a very good weekend against Georgia Southern and Life University when we had our annual spring match with the Legion. To give credit to the Legion, I thought they were very good. We played a bit timid and it showed in the score line, but it was a great game for us because it magnified our weaknesses. Unfortunately, the season was cancelled that following week.
How have you had to adjust coaching wise to the limitations of COVID-19?
I’ve become extremely comfortable with Zoom and other technologies that I didn’t even know existed before COVID-19. We are meeting with the team on the regular which started out with your typical video review, positional review work but morphed into life skill sessions. We did a three-session series on investing which really couldn’t have taken place at a better time during the stock market collapse so a few of our guys have done quite well in the market since then.
We also have done a four-session ‘Leaders Building Leaders’ series where we focus on the building the leadership culture of our team. We brought in Ben Olsen, the DC United Head Coach, as a guest speaker who was gracious enough to spend an hour and a half with our guys talking about the differences between winning and losing mentalities that he has seen with teams and individuals during his playing and coaching career. All of this also took place during the social justice movement going on in our country which I think opened the door for our guys to have some very good uncomfortable conversations which in the end has brought together even more in a lot of ways.
What has been the biggest lesson you have learned during this time?
It probably is more of an affirmation than anything, but I see a lot of people using our restrictions due to COVID-19 as an excuse to shut everything down. Our staff is using it as an advantage to work on the weaknesses that we had in our program. Just like we say to our players, we could use COVID as an excuse or we could start reevaluating how we used to do things and think outside of the box to achieve what we need to.
One example is our alumni outreach. We typically send emails and letter to the group keeping them up to date on what we are doing and the progress of the program. We decided to do a Zoom call with the 1994 Championship team and live stream it on Facebook a few weeks ago. The alumni had a blast with it, and we are definitely going to do it again. That wouldn’t have been something we would have thought about doing if COVID hadn’t hit.
You were able to add a few last-minute additions to the team in the spring, how will those players help? Will they be able to make an immediate impact?
I think our class overall fills specific needs that we either had this past year or will have after this year. The staff did a great job finding kids that were not only good players, but leaders on their former teams which is something we were looking for. There is something to be said for players that just figure out how to win games, and that was what we were looking for in this class. I never say an incoming guy will make an immediate impact because if I’m doing my job as a coach, a player that has played for me for a year (or even a few) should be able to do the job better than a player I have never coached, however, there are special players and this class is full of them.
Two of the incoming freshmen were awarded Gatorade Player of the Year for their state, what can you say about them and what they will bring to the team this fall?
Obviously, personal accolades are great, and it helps with overall look of the class, but most important is the fact that both of these kids are winners. Heath (Flauthu) gives a great mentality in the middle of the field and will bring a competitiveness that we need. Mayno (Linares) scores goals. He can play in a number of attacking spots for us and I’m excited to see him continue scoring in his college career. We were fortunate to be in the mix with the both of them early on in the recruiting process and I think the relationship we built was what got them here.
What do you look forward to most when the team is able to come back?
Just spending time with them honestly. They are a great group of guys. Not many coaches would say that about a team that just went 3-13, but these guys want and will be better. I think they are starting to understand what that takes and I’m hopeful we see that this fall.
Lastly, how have you personally been spending your time during quarantine? Do you have any funny stories with your family or new hobbies you picked up?
My family grew by one during COVID, which has been such a blessing. Having a baby in an empty hospital was strange to say the least, but she is amazing. I’ve been a much better husband and father, honestly, and that is because I have been able to be around. I’ve been doing most of the work with my twin boys who just turned four a few weeks back as my wife has had her hands full with Colee, but that too has been awesome. All preschool teachers deserve massive praise (and teachers in general) because it takes an amazing skill set that I was not blessed with but now truly appreciate. I don’t necessarily have any funny stories, but we have had big moments during this time like the twins giving up of pacifiers (don’t judge me) and no potty “mistakes.” Those are huge moments in my household!
Men’s soccer season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2020-21 Gold Card for $65 here. The Gold Card is an exclusive offer that grants you admission into all UAB men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball events for the upcoming academic year. Contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.
For more information on the UAB men’s soccer team, follow @UAB_MSoc on Twitter and Instagram. # UAB #
