SMU Director of Athletics Steve Orsini (left) listens to Tim McClements (right), new head coach of the men’s soccer team, answer questions at a press conference July 23 in Dallas. McClements previously was an assistant coach of the team. Photo by Lindsey Perkins, The Daily Campus

After only a month on the job and a week of preseason practices, new SMU head coach Tim McClements feels comfortable and ready to lead the men’s soccer team into the 2008 soccer season.

A new head coach on any level brings with them a new philosophy on how to coach players and what their goals are for their players. McClements views his role as more than just teaching student athletes how to play the game of soccer.

“My main goal here at SMU is to have our players graduate from SMU, and while doing that, obviously produce good soccer players that continually improve,” said McClements.

McClements knows that even though SMU has been a top-tier and highly ranked for decades, only a handful of players will continue on to the MLS and other professional leagues.

With this in mind, McClements believes that “the most important thing is that we produce people that are productive in society. We are obviously very happy when players move on to the MLS because it shows from a soccer standpoint that we are doing our job and doing it well.”

McClements was an assistant coach at SMU under Schellas Hyndman for two different stints. During his latest stint, in the 2006 and 2007 campaigns, McClements acclimated to the SMU campus and culture for a second time.

Understanding a university from an academic, cultural and athletic perspective is vital, according to McClements. “The big thing whenever you are at a university is knowing what that university is all about. When you recruit student athletes, they have to be a good fit for the university.”

McClements views his time at SMU is a huge advantage in that regard because he understands SMU on the whole. This will undoubtedly help ease the transition and make it more seamless than if an outsider took over the porgram.

While transition periods are often difficult and require persistent work and perseverance, McClements’ changeover to head coach at SMU figures to be easier than when he became Vanderbilt’s head coach in 2002 when he was less familiar with the school than he is with SMU.

In 2002, McClements inherited a struggling program that was only given 2.1 scholarships and took over just days before the start of the season. On top of the lack of scholarships and time, McClements had to makes sure that his recruits met the high academic, much like at SMU, of the university.

After winning only three games in his first season at Vanderbilt, McClements’ team began improving. This improvement culminated with in 2006 with McClements being named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year. It is impossible to know where the team would have gone next since the program was cut by Vanderbilt after one of their more successful seasons in years.

2008 season not a rebuilding year for McClements

While McClements has proven he can rebuild a struggling program, his focus at SMU will be slightly different considering the Mustangs have made the NCAA tournament 23 out of the last 24 years and are consistently ranked in the top 15.

Instead, McClements will have to focus on replenishing a midfield that lost Scott Corbin, Ben Shuleva, and eventually Bruno Guarda to FC Dallas via a trade with the Colorado Rapids.

Guarda decided to forgo his senior season at SMU in favor of playing professionally. Rather than focus on the negatives of losing a player like Guarda, McClements had nothing but fond memories and positive feelings towards Brazilian midfielder.

“We are very happy for Bruno. We want our players to be successful in life and Bruno had an opportunity that he was battling with. I truly feel that Bruno was one of the best, if not the best, players in the country.”

Guarda’s departure leaves a large gap in terms of both playing talent and leadership in the midfield. However, that does not mean that the 2008 season is a rebuilding year for McClements and the Mustangs.

“When you lose a player of that caliber, it is not something that is replaced with one individual. It is replaced by a group of individuals who step up,” said McClements about replacing a person like Guarda.

McClements will have numerous options to replace Guarda with players already on the team and the recent class of 2012 that boasts 14 players. McClements knows that “It will be a different look, it will be a different group of guys, but I don’t think we will be any less effective.”

The 2008 season figures will undoubtedly look significantly different with McClements replacing a coach of 24 years and the departure of seniors. However, this does not mean the team will experience a decline in prominence or even success. Unlike his previous jobs, McClements inherits a deep, young team with a winning record in the prior season. Considering McClements’ familiarity with the university and his coaching experience, the future looks bright for the men’s soccer team.