Cardinal Check-In

STANFORD, Calif. – Back-to-back NCAA champions and back-to-back-to-back Pac-12 champions, Stanford is in a familiar position this spring. A process-oriented bunch, the Cardinal not only knows what it takes to win titles, but more importantly the work it takes to get there.
 
Midway through the Cardinal's spring schedule, head coach Jeremy Gunn assessed his squad as he enters his sixth season in charge.
 One of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, Gunn's teams are 65-23-16 (.702) in his five seasons on The Farm and the Cardinal leads the nation in winning percentage over the past three with a 46-8-11 (.792) mark since 2014.
 
In 2015 the Cardinal routed Clemson 4-0, the largest margin of victory in a College Cup final since 1975. This past December, Stanford won another title when it beat Wake Forest in penalties following a scoreless 110 minutes. The Cardinal did not allow a goal throughout the entire tournament on the way to its second crown, becoming just the third team to win the championship while posting at 0.00 postseason goals against average. GoStanford.com: We were in this exact situation a year ago – sitting down, recapping a championship and looking ahead to a title defense. Has anything changed in terms of approach or areas of focus? 
 
Jeremy Gunn: We finished the season with euphoria again last year, but we've had a wonderful, level-headed approach and understand that there is room for growth. Soccer is such a tight, fickle sport that just because you win your last game doesn't mean that everything is perfect. We've done an excellent job of buying in and not just sitting there thinking we have everything figured out. We can be proud of what we've done, but know that there's room for improvement. That to me is what is really exciting.

GS: Speaking of never settling, what are some challenges as the pieces fall into place for the 2017 season?
 
JG: You always have challenges no matter what position you're in, whether you're coming off a losing season or a championship. The challenge last year was to see if everybody was still hungry and we answered that in incredible fashion. Now after having two great years, the challenge is there again. I couldn't be more impressed with the attitude of the team. That's something that has been exceptional and is something that's truly unique and special here. We've built a wonderfully strong culture and an enjoyable environment where people love to work hard and love to continuously develop. That's all we can ever ask for. As a coach you always hope you can experience great seasons with great teams, but the bigger picture for me has always been to create a sustainable program. The staff and the players have shown a desire to do the same.

GS: Last year you had to replace five starters and this year you must replace two with Brian Nana-Sinkam playing professionally in the Sounders organization and Andrew Epstein readying to go with the Peace Corps to Benin. Do you feel that the group is ahead of where it was last year at this time because of that?
 
JG: We are certainly in a great position and you can maybe think you are [ahead of last year], but you never really know. We have a lot of people coming back and can get an awful lot of work done this spring. There's a great maturity to this team and a group of seniors whose class has very much a dominant force in the program the last few years. They're still showing wonderful drive to complete their college experience in the best way possible and that leadership has helped the work rate continue to be top-notch across the board.
 
GS: A 1-0 loss to SF City FC and then a trip down to Bakersfield and a 5-2 win over your alma mater have been results thus far. What have you seen from the team in those two games and what have you been working on?
 
JG: We came back after spring break and in the first game we played well, but didn't finish chances. Since then we've really worked on being more assertive, taking more risks and being more driven towards scoring goals. It certainly proved in abundance in the Bakersfield game and we were really pleased with how we played on the ball that day. Everything we had been focusing on the previous two weeks showed in a wonderful, positive way, but there's more to do. We were on the ball so much I felt that maybe defensively we were a little bit lackadaisical, but credit goes to Bakersfield for scoring some great goals. All in all, we are looking pretty sharp at the moment against outside competition. We will never be able to guarantee future results, but the hope is that we can always guarantee future output and that is something that we've shown.

2017 Spring Schedule

GS: How was that trip back to Bakersfield for you personally?
 
JG: I missed the game last year and a little celebration beforehand because we were having a baby. From an emotional standpoint, getting to go home always reminds me that I really mean what I say when I preach about how awesome the college experience is. To see all the friends I made there and all the people while I was a student and coach in Bakersfield was truly special.
 
GS: You mentioned the senior class earlier and it's a big one this year with almost 10 players that will have been at Stanford for at least four years, including captains Drew Skundrich and Tomas Hilliard-Arce. What have you seen from the seniors collectively?
 
JG: We have a strong core and a leadership group that has been there. They've done it. But they're still hungry to keep getting better and hungry to keep competing as far as they can go. You look for continuity in roles and Drew was a captain with Brian last year. I think we've seen that behind this senior class the winter training again went extremely well. We were able to accomplish a good amount in that time period. They worked hard and continued to drive forward, which helped us coming into the spring.

GS: What do you see looking ahead to the fall when the nation's top-ranked recruiting class arrives on campus?
 
JG: We have a great group returning who are extremely driven and want to improve and then we're adding a wonderful class of people in August that are going to be desperate for immediate success. Regardless of whether each individual gets that immediate success, we're hoping that integrating them into the culture we have created is another step forward to a bright future.