Coming off the Clemson men’s soccer team’s latest national championship this past December, head coach Mike Noonan has noticed some differences as he recruits and tries to continue restocking his program’s talent.
“The phone rings a little bit more, and the door opens a lot quicker,” Noonan told The Clemson Insider on Wednesday at the Prowl and Growl at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
Sure, Noonan’s phone is more abuzz and it’s even easier for him and the Tigers to get their foot in the door with top prospects coming off the team’s 2021 National Championship run that saw Clemson upend No. 2 Washington, 2-0, to win the 2021 Men’s Soccer National Championship.
But another change for Noonan, a two-time ACC Champion and the National Coach of the Year in 2021 who received a contract extension from Clemson in February, is the fact he and his staff have the luxury to be a little more picky with the players they recruit after leading the program to its third national title.
“We’ve had to be a little bit finer in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it,” Noonan said. “But at the same point, we lost a lot of players. So, we’re bringing in 13 players this year, and that’s probably the biggest cohort I’ve brought in since we got here 13 years ago. But to be able to select the players a little bit more selectively than maybe we had in the past.”
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