Update from Head Men's Soccer Coach Dave Brandt -- November 2023

Greetings from the men's soccer office at Bucknell, and I hope everyone is well. I write at the point where our team has just wrapped up the 2023 season with a 2-1 road win at Lehigh. I have (fortunately or unfortunately) been a part of 37 college seasons and two pro-seasons, either as head coach or as an assistant. This is the first time I've seen or experienced a season like the one we've experienced this fall. Despite our record, this is a group of guys who have genuinely pursued excellence and high standards, have outworked their opponents in almost every game, have arguably been the better team in most games, and, by the record, have few to show for it. Again, I've not seen it before. Typically, with high investment, high effort, and high standards come high returns, and so, no doubt, we are frustrated and disappointed. The above being said, this has been, all season, a fighting and resilient team, and neither our goals and objectives nor our belief that we can achieve them have changed.

Our objective is to be highly respected and highly successful perennial Patriot League champions. The only way to accomplish that would be to build something deep, strong, remarkable, and unique. Strong, remarkable, and unique in terms of vision, commitment, standards, and mentality, and as strange as it might sound, I actually believe right now, at this challenging point for us, that our goal to be the absolute top team in the Patriot League is more doable/reachable and closer than ever. Our year has been filled with heart-breaking and improbable losses. We are forced to dig deep, hold our heads up, and fight on despite deep disappointment and, most of the time, just plain, old-fashioned bad luck. We are playing an aggressive and proactive style, and we've played every Patriot League team even at worst, and several, we've dominated.

I hope you'll hang in there with us. The young men on our team have been confronted with a scenario of legitimate high hopes dashed by many things. When one can choose the easy-come, easy-go, throwaway culture, this team has determined this fall not to fold or fight, and if you've seen us play, you've seen us fight tooth and nail every inch of the way and stand up to everything and everyone thrown at us. I'm a big reader and a big quote guy, and the guys, of course, get regaled with quotes that relate to real life all the time. I told them last week how proud I am to coach them. They aren't perfect, and neither am I. At the same time, it's been a very hard season for all of us, and they've consciously chosen to stay disciplined and committed. It's been impressive, frankly, and I hope you also feel, as I do, that they very much deserve your support.

As for the quotes, I'll give you two that we've held in front of the guys and talked about. I want them to be foundational in terms of personal and team mentality for many years for each of the guys, but for now, they represent two things that are spurring the boys to finish strong and with integrity. From Sun Tzu, "The role of true victory is in fighting, not in coming off safely, and the honor of valor consists in combatting, not in beating." In an excerpt from Eric Greitens' excellent book, "Resilience,"… "Excuses are a kind of poison. If offered, don't drink the poison -- at the root of resilience is the willingness to take responsibility for results."

I hope this note and message from me with regard to the team is helpful and insightful. We are building something that is going to be fantastic. We are deeply disappointed in not being able to meet all our goals yet but undaunted because we know that we are building something unique that can't be stopped, and we believe that we will reap the rewards in due time.

Thank you for your continued support.

Dave Brandt
Head Men's Soccer Coach
db071@bucknell.edu

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Update from Head Men's Soccer Coach Dave Brandt -- November 2023