Hofstra University’s men’s soccer program is like no other. They are tied for the most Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) championship titles at eight and the only team to win four consecutive titles. The Pride have cemented themselves into the record books. In his 36th season, head coach Richard Nuttall and his unabashedly unique approach to coaching has been crucial to the program’s success.
Success starts with recruiting. Hofstra’s roster draws not only nationwide, but from over a dozen countries as well. Nuttall’s priority in recruiting is not statistics or accolades, but character.
“We like to recruit cheerful people who throw good stuff at the wall to get good stuff back in life,” Nuttall said. “That’s more important to us than their ability on the field. We’ll bring a good player who’s a fantastic person over a great player who’s a bit dodgy.”
After finding a potential recruit, Nuttall’s next priority is being unapologetically honest.
“[We] emphatically state, you ain’t getting any money extra if you come in here because we don’t have it,” Nuttall said.
His honesty doesn’t just highlight Hofstra’s deficits, but its positive attributes as well.
“We may not have the facilities of an Ohio State [University], but we’re damn good,” Nuttall said. “We may not have the academics of an Ivy League school, but we’re damn good enough. So that’s the package we sell here on the whole.”
It’s not just Nuttall’s approach to recruitment that makes him stand out, but his approach to practice and preparation.
“Instead of two and a half hours, we’ll do an hour and 20 minutes where it flows from one to another and another and it’ll be constant activity,” Nuttall said, describing a typical practice. “A lot of the talking is done while they’re playing, and in that hour and 20 they’ll do more than you can do in three hours at most of the other collages.”
Keeping things short and direct is a trend for Nuttall, who avoids the copious hours most programs dedicate to film analysis and game plans.
“I would say most of the schools might be doing three, four or five hours of film [analysis] a week, [but] we’ll do 10 to 15 minutes with general little bits,” Nuttall said.
Nuttall earned his 350th win with the CAA championship game, but he gave a lot of the credit for his outstanding Hofstra tenure to the people around him.
“Well, I’m not really that good,” Nuttall said. “I surround myself with great people … so, I think our success is, through my leadership, picking the right people and having the confidence to let those people do their jobs.”
As Hofstra prepared for the second round of the NCAA tournament, Nuttall’s distinctive approach may continue to carry the program to new heights.
Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin
