# Legends FC Hires New Development Academy Director



## CaliKlines (Jan 30, 2017)

Kevin Boyd, former PAC-12 head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils and U of California Golden Bears is bringing his experience and leadership to the Legends FC family as the Director of Academy operations. Kevin's knowledge and style will help Legends FC create players that have the strengths and characteristics of US YNT players.

http://www.legendsfc.net/legends-fc-appoints-kevin-boyd/


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## MakeAPlay (Jan 30, 2017)

CaliKlines said:


> Kevin Boyd, former PAC-12 head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils and U of California Golden Bears is bringing his experience and leadership to the Legends FC family as the Director of Academy operations. Kevin's knowledge and style will help Legends FC create players that have the strengths and characteristics of US YNT players.
> 
> http://www.legendsfc.net/legends-fc-appoints-kevin-boyd/



I love how they emphasize that he was the winningest coach in program history.  He was the coach for half the time that they had a program (10 of 21 years) and he has the WORST winning percentage among those coaches and only made the tournament 40% of the time and never made it past the 2nd round.  Add to that he had the worst tournament record of any ASU coach and never finished higher than ties for 5th in the PAC 12/10 conference.  I guess he was okay at Cal....  No surprise more mediocrity.  I'm sure that the style of play will evolve from kickball to advanced kickball now.


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## CaliKlines (Jan 30, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> I love how they emphasize that he was the winningest coach in program history.  He was the coach for half the time that they had a program (10 of 21 years) and he has the WORST winning percentage among those coaches and only made the tournament 40% of the time and never made it past the 2nd round.  Add to that he had the worst tournament record of any ASU coach and never finished higher than ties for 5th in the PAC 12/10 conference.  I guess he was okay at Cal....  No surprise more mediocrity.  I'm sure that the style of play will evolve from kickball to advanced kickball now.


I knew it wouldn't take long...negative, negative, negative. What happened to the new MAPPIE? Full of appreciation and compassion? Trying to BS all of the youngers with the new mellow style? We know the evil that lurks in the core.  Now, lets get NoGoal to pile on too!

Stop throwing shade and come on out into the sun!


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## NoGoal (Jan 30, 2017)

CaliKlines said:


> I knew it wouldn't take long...negative, negative, negative. What happened to the new MAPPIE? Full of appreciation and compassion? Trying to BS all of the youngers with the new mellow style? We know the evil that lurks in the core.  Now, lets get NoGoal to pile on too!
> 
> Stop throwing shade and come on out into the sun!


Actually a good hire, because we all know Legends is kick and run soccer.  Hopefully, Boyd will be able to reverse the years of bad habits the Legends players were taught, lol!


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## NoGoal (Jan 30, 2017)

It must suck to go from Pac12 Head Coach back to Club/WPSL head coach.  Well at least he knows a lot of D1 head coaches and should help Legends with their players recruiting.


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## MakeAPlay (Jan 30, 2017)

https://public.azregents.edu/Shared Documents/Item-31-2007-06-ASU-MultiYr-Soccer-Head-Coach.pdf


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## Zerodenero (Jan 30, 2017)

NoGoal said:


> It must suck to go from Pac12 Head Coach back to Club/WPSL head coach.


Precisely my 1st thought. Isn't that in reverse order?

It's cool for legends but inquiring minds have to ask - Why?


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## MakeAPlay (Jan 30, 2017)

CaliKlines said:


> I knew it wouldn't take long...negative, negative, negative. What happened to the new MAPPIE? Full of appreciation and compassion? Trying to BS all of the youngers with the new mellow style? We know the evil that lurks in the core.  Now, lets get NoGoal to pile on too!
> 
> Stop throwing shade and come on out into the sun!


Cali I am going to throw shade at Legends until you are no longer the playing the drum for them.  I never try to BS anyone.  I am going to troll you until I am tired of it.  I can be as negative or as positive as the person I am responding to is.  The ULittle parent don't know any better.  By now you do.  I hope that are players meet on the pitch someday.  Little MAP is way less forgiving than I am...


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## MakeAPlay (Jan 30, 2017)

Zerodenero said:


> Precisely my 1st thought. Isn't that in reverse order?
> 
> It's cool for legends but inquiring minds have to ask - Why?


Click on the link in post #6 if you are curious.  Legends is giving him a pay raise.  With 8,000 B-Z teams they can afford it.  He wan't hitting too many milestones as ASU so I imagine the writing was on the wall.  Better to quit than be fired and why not take money from a sales organization, I mean soccer club like Legends?


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## MakeAPlay (Jan 30, 2017)

CaliKlines said:


> Kevin Boyd, former PAC-12 head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils and U of California Golden Bears is bringing his experience and leadership to the Legends FC family as the Director of Academy operations. Kevin's knowledge and style will help Legends FC create players that have the strengths and characteristics of US YNT players.
> 
> http://www.legendsfc.net/legends-fc-appoints-kevin-boyd/


I'm curious as to how many YNT players they recruited successfully at ASU?


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## Zerodenero (Jan 30, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> Click on the link in post #6 if you are curious.  Legends is giving him a pay raise.  With 8,000 B-Z teams they can afford it.  He wan't hitting too many milestones as ASU so I imagine the writing was on the wall.  Better to quit than be fired and why not take money from a sales organization, I mean soccer club like Legends?


Well, we sure didn't need to listen to another Simon Sinek Ted Talk to figure out his "Why".

Without having further insight, I agree that he's seizing the perfect opportunity for his situation.


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## NoGoal (Jan 30, 2017)

I also saw, Mr Kline post the same info on BigSoccer.

I heard he is now taking Josh's Audi for a car wash and detailing.


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## outside! (Jan 30, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> I'm curious as to how many YNT players they recruited successfully at ASU?


After watching both the U20 and U17 women's world cup I don't see what is so special about that group of players. They were probably coached poorly, but they also couldn't complete a pass to the midfield or forwards. Since the passing was so poor, it was difficult to tell if anyone could receive a ball, but I didn't see a lot of quality first touches either. It was mostly kick and run soccer.


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## Sheriff Joe (Jan 31, 2017)

CaliKlines said:


> I knew it wouldn't take long...negative, negative, negative. What happened to the new MAPPIE? Full of appreciation and compassion? Trying to BS all of the youngers with the new mellow style? We know the evil that lurks in the core.  Now, lets get NoGoal to pile on too!
> 
> Stop throwing shade and come on out into the sun!


I don't know the history, but what do these people have against the Legends? Doesn't SCB play long ball too?


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## bruinblue14 (Jan 31, 2017)

I've seen Legends play both direct and possession recently. Maybe they are moving that way as a club, or at least some of their coaches are. My DD's team played an excellent, aggressive, mostly possession-oriented Legends u13 team a couple months ago. It's nice to see teams adopt a more technical/passing style.


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## bababooey (Jan 31, 2017)

I would focus more on Kevin Boyd's experience at the youth coaching level than the college coaching level as it relates to his current role. Seems like a good hire for Legends. Thanks for sharing Cali.


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## MakeAPlay (Jan 31, 2017)

outside! said:


> After watching both the U20 and U17 women's world cup I don't see what is so special about that group of players. They were probably coached poorly, but they also couldn't complete a pass to the midfield or forwards. Since the passing was so poor, it was difficult to tell if anyone could receive a ball, but I didn't see a lot of quality first touches either. It was mostly kick and run soccer.


You weren't watching that closely.  The problem wasn't the players.  The U20 WNT could beat 97% of the college teams.


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## outside! (Jan 31, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> You weren't watching that closely.  The problem wasn't the players.  The U20 WNT could beat 97% of the college teams.


Then what was the problem? I think the coaching was poor, but so was the passing and the receiving. The inability to pass accurately or check in for a pass has nothing to do with the coach, the style of play, or the phase of the moon. There were some standout players on the team, but most of the team didn't seem all that much different than any other Top 25 D1 team. The U17 team seemed even more average. Neither team had a competent, problem solving midfield and did not appear to have any leader on the field capable of making adjustments to the style of play. As the National Teams, they should have.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

outside! said:


> Then what was the problem? I think the coaching was poor, but so was the passing and the receiving. The inability to pass accurately or check in for a pass has nothing to do with the coach, the style of play, or the phase of the moon. There were some standout players on the team, but most of the team didn't seem all that much different than any other Top 25 D1 team. The U17 team seemed even more average. Neither team had a competent, problem solving midfield and did not appear to have any leader on the field capable of making adjustments to the style of play. As the National Teams, they should have.


Again you weren't watching that closely.  Saying that they couldn't receive a ball under pressure is wrong.  The issue again was the tactics used.  Launching the ball down the wing to an athletic perimeter player in order to cross the ball in.  They selected players for that style of play and to be quite honest with you they wasted Pugh and Sanchez as they are excellent creators.  In my opinion, Ogle, Otto and Jean were overmatched and provided just enough discontinuity to throw the whole team off.  They didn't have a competent 6 and who was supposed to be the 10?  With poorly defined roles it is easy for a team to look confused.  When French got out of the way (like the second half against Mexico) they actually put together some nice sequences.  Again proper preparation could have solved that.  Why not have them play more games against Asian teams and France/Germany?  They could have easily set up friendlies against Japanese professional teams and give them exposure to their true weaknesses instead of spending 2 years picking the team!  If they were serious they would spend 3 camps max picking the team and then the rest of the time working on a style of play.  Not to mention top down mandates to college students with other activities don't work that well either.


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## socalkdg (Feb 1, 2017)

Watched 4 games.  A number of girls had first touches that went 5-6 feet away from them directly towards the onrushing opponent.   This allowed the defense to be in the face of many of the midfielders before they could make a pass.   Numerous turnovers throughout.   First touch the direction you want to play and keep 1-3 feet away is what you would usually expect. It didn't happen.  Losing possession so often in the middle of the field made it difficult to run any offense.   I'm not defending the coaching either as I didn't think it was very strong and do agree many players didn't seem suited for their role.  Also didn't think Pugh and Sanchez needed to come back to the 18 to help defend as this put them out of position for any type of transition offense.


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## NoGoal (Feb 1, 2017)

socalkdg said:


> Also didn't think Pugh and Sanchez needed to come back to the 18 to help defend as this put them out of position for any type of transition offense.


I agree and the blame falls directly on the shoulders of Michelle French.


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## pulguita (Feb 1, 2017)

NoGoal said:


> I agree and the blame falls directly on the shoulders of Michelle French.


A big piece is on Frenchy, a big piece is on the clubs that trained these players and some on the players.  95% of them do not watch any meaningful soccer.  The USWNT and the MLS DO NOT count.


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## Sunil Illuminati (Feb 1, 2017)

NoGoal said:


> I agree and the blame falls directly on the shoulders of Michelle French.


French wouldn't win Mayor's Cup with Real Madrid


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## NoGoal (Feb 1, 2017)

pulguita said:


> A big piece is on Frenchy, a big piece is on the clubs that trained these players and some on the players.  95% of them do not watch any meaningful soccer.  The USWNT and the MLS DO NOT count.


The U20s haven't won a WWC since 2012.  Guess who took over the head coaching job after that year?  Yup, Michelle French and it's been downhill since.


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

What does that have to do with Legends?


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

The Driver said:


> What does that have to do with Legends?


Nothing.  No Legends players were on the 2016 U20 team or will be on the U20 team anytime soon.


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

There was no GDA


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

The Driver said:


> There was no GDA


Won't make a difference.  The U20 team is for the top .0001%.


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

Which has nothing to do with the GDA?


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## pulguita (Feb 1, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> Nothing.  No Legends players were on the 2016 U20 team or will be on the U20 team anytime soon.


Well kinda like the quote from Independence Day - "well that is not entirely true Mr. President...".  Ashley Sanchez was a Legends Player before she was a Blues Player.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

The Driver said:


> Which has nothing to do with the GDA?


Then why did you bring it up?


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

pulguita said:


> Well kinda like the quote from Independence Day - "well that is not entirely true Mr. President...".  Ashley Sanchez was a Legends Player before she was a Blues Player.


And she was a Santa Anita SC player before then.  Who developed her?  Not Legends.


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

@map the u20 team?


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

The Driver said:


> @map the u20 team?


I agree.  The point was brought up about ECNL.


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> And she was a Santa Anita SC player before then.  Who developed her?  Not Legends.


@Map careful


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## pulguita (Feb 1, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> And she was a Santa Anita SC player before then.  Who developed her?  Not Legends.


You think Blues did?  Have you ever been to a Blues training? I am not saying Legends did either but all the clubs seem to take credit for developing the player if they were the last one.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

pulguita said:


> You think Blues did?  Have you ever been to a Blues training? I am not saying Legends did either but all the clubs seem to take credit for developing the player if they were the last one.


I am not saying that either.  Her current coach is far from a talent developer.  Now if we were talking about Tad or Rob or even Mary Naimie then I would say Blues.  Someone had to develop her and it wasn't Legends.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 1, 2017)

The Driver said:


> @Map careful


I'm just keeping it real.  I agree with Pulgita that it wasn't her current coach at Blues that did the developing.  He just told the team to kick it to her and get out of the way.  That is a big reason why that team has so seriously underachieved.  That team had more high end D1 talent than any team in SoCal.  Weird how two other teams in the age group have won ECNL national titles but not them.

Coaching is everything....


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

Oh wrong topic. Right thread wrong topic. My bad


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## Sunil Illuminati (Feb 1, 2017)

The Driver said:


> What does that have to do with Legends?


Because..Legend has it that the US staff know what they're doing


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## The Driver (Feb 1, 2017)

Every club and their sister club tells that same line.


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## NoGoal (Feb 1, 2017)

pulguita said:


> Well kinda like the quote from Independence Day - "well that is not entirely true Mr. President...".  Ashley Sanchez was a Legends Player before she was a Blues Player.


And trust me it was all kick and run to Ashley on that U11 Legends team.  #1 reason I moved my DD after the season concluded.


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## NoGoal (Feb 1, 2017)

pulguita said:


> You think Blues did?  Have you ever been to a Blues training? I am not saying Legends did either but all the clubs seem to take credit for developing the player if they were the last one.


Ain't that the truth!


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## Juve 50 (Feb 20, 2017)

My dd was developed at Legends.  But was on a B team where winning wasn't as important.  She also went to Clint where she honed and shaped her game.   But she is now doing pretty well now.  I had a younger DD at legends last year but we are taking a year off.  Not sure she is a club caliber player.  Probably not.  I also have experience with KB.  He is a solid guy and will do well at Legends.  One of the many reasons my DD chose ASU was because of his style of play.  Did he always have they personnel to be successful in the Pac 12?  No.  Did he ever?  Not sure.  But he stuck to his guns and continued to play possession ball.  But to lump an entire club into what a small handful of coaches teach isn't fair.  I have been to Blues trainings.  My dd is an 2000 and the last few years the Blues team we played would send their first pass back to the Center Back only to have her Kick the ball down the field as far as she could.  And that was their ECNL team.  My dd's current team is pretty good and most players were developed elsewhere including a few from Legends.  But the few things they all have in common are 1. Soccer IQ, and 2. A very good touch. Unfortunately it looks like my run in the club soccer world will be coming to a close in the next year and change.  Unless my Youngest decides she wants to go down the same road as my older.


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## Juve 50 (Feb 20, 2017)

and Trust me, I am not a big fan of HomerKline, as I don't think he a good representative of Legends.  But I do Believe Boyd is a very good Hire.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 20, 2017)

Juve 50 said:


> My dd was developed at Legends.  But was on a B team where winning wasn't as important.  She also went to Clint where she honed and shaped her game.   But she is now doing pretty well now.  I had a younger DD at legends last year but we are taking a year off.  Not sure she is a club caliber player.  Probably not.  I also have experience with KB.  He is a solid guy and will do well at Legends.  One of the many reasons my DD chose ASU was because of his style of play.  Did he always have they personnel to be successful in the Pac 12?  No.  Did he ever?  Not sure.  But he stuck to his guns and continued to play possession ball.  But to lump an entire club into what a small handful of coaches teach isn't fair.  I have been to Blues trainings.  My dd is an 2000 and the last few years the Blues team we played would send their first pass back to the Center Back only to have her Kick the ball down the field as far as she could.  And that was their ECNL team.  My dd's current team is pretty good and most players were developed elsewhere including a few from Legends.  But the few things they all have in common are 1. Soccer IQ, and 2. A very good touch. Unfortunately it looks like my run in the club soccer world will be coming to a close in the next year and change.  Unless my Youngest decides she wants to go down the same road as my older.


That is a great anecdote and it sounds like things worked out for your daughter.  My questions for you are simple.  First, why did you move your older daughter from Legends if things were going so well?  Second, when it comes to style of play, what style of play were you looking for as a fit for your player?  I haven't watched as many ASU games as you likely have but I'm far from convinced that they play possession.  Maybe it is because of the opponents that I saw them play but again I am not convinced.

Congrats to your daughter.  The PAC 12 was the top ranked conference last year and will continue to be at or near the top for the foreseeable future.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 20, 2017)

Juve 50 said:


> and Trust me, I am not a big fan of HomerKline, as I don't think he a good representative of Legends.  But I do Believe Boyd is a very good Hire.


I agree that Boyd is a good coach.  He will be back in the college ranks shortly.


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## Juve 50 (Feb 20, 2017)

MakeAPlay said:


> That is a great anecdote and it sounds like things worked out for your daughter.  My questions for you are simple.  First, why did you move your older daughter from Legends if things were going so well?  Second, when it comes to style of play, what style of play were you looking for as a fit for your player?  I haven't watched as many ASU games as you likely have but I'm far from convinced that they play possession.  Maybe it is because of the opponents that I saw them play but again I am not convinced.
> 
> Congrats to your daughter.  The PAC 12 was the top ranked conference last year and will continue to be at or near the top for the foreseeable future.


The reason we left was more of a personality thing.  My dd never meshed with the top team girls.  Never felt welcomed.  She guested with them hoping she would eventually make friends and want to play with them at a higher level.  It never happened.  And because she guested so much with other teams, she found a team she wanted to play on who treated her great from day one.  It was a tough decision.  We even tried to go back after a year, but it was the same story.  She went to a training, they set up a scrimmage, she played well and looked like she fit in.  When she came off the field I asked her how it went.  Same old story.  One girl said Hi to her, and another said, "I remember you, you were on the B team.  What are you doing here?"  Needless to say she didn't want to go back.  But she needed to play at a high level as she got older.  Needed to play with and against better athletes to see if this was something she wanted to continue through college.  

 As for ASU and KB, we watched them train, and watch lots of matches including many Out of Conference Games.  Teams like UCLA and some of the higher caliber teams seemed to be so much quicker to the ball and were just so much faster and simply had more athletes, that I believe it forced them out of their game and into a style that didn't play to their strengths.  When you are outmatched and coaching to feed your family that will happen sometimes.  Most College teams will resort to very Direct play at some time or another when they are outmatched or even behind in a match.  But by the players he has brought in and looking at the next 2 classes, he prefers players that like to keep the ball on the ground.  Luckily for the new coach, he tries to play a similar style but will also have to adjust to compete in the Pac 12.


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## MakeAPlay (Feb 20, 2017)

Juve 50 said:


> The reason we left was more of a personality thing.  My dd never meshed with the top team girls.  Never felt welcomed.  She guested with them hoping she would eventually make friends and want to play with them at a higher level.  It never happened.  And because she guested so much with other teams, she found a team she wanted to play on who treated her great from day one.  It was a tough decision.  We even tried to go back after a year, but it was the same story.  She went to a training, they set up a scrimmage, she played well and looked like she fit in.  When she came off the field I asked her how it went.  Same old story.  One girl said Hi to her, and another said, "I remember you, you were on the B team.  What are you doing here?"  Needless to say she didn't want to go back.  But she needed to play at a high level as she got older.  Needed to play with and against better athletes to see if this was something she wanted to continue through college.
> 
> As for ASU and KB, we watched them train, and watch lots of matches including many Out of Conference Games.  Teams like UCLA and some of the higher caliber teams seemed to be so much quicker to the ball and were just so much faster and simply had more athletes, that I believe it forced them out of their game and into a style that didn't play to their strengths.  When you are outmatched and coaching to feed your family that will happen sometimes.  Most College teams will resort to very Direct play at some time or another when they are outmatched or even behind in a match.  But by the players he has brought in and looking at the next 2 classes, he prefers players that like to keep the ball on the ground.  Luckily for the new coach, he tries to play a similar style but will also have to adjust to compete in the Pac 12.


This is a great reply and so well thought out that it gave me chills.  Clearly you are pragmatic about this club soccer thing.  I will also add that your daughter is brilliant.  With girls the "fit" has to do with lots of other things than the soccer.  The new coach at ASU is surely going to benefit from Boyd's recruiting preferences.  

Good luck to your daughter.  She sounds like she will do really well next season.  I will keep my eye out for her.


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## Legit_play (Feb 20, 2017)

Sunil Illuminati said:


> French wouldn't win Mayor's Cup with Real Madrid


Ohhh brutal...hahaha still, had to laugh though


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## Juve 50 (Feb 21, 2017)

Ma
[QUOTE="MakeAPlay said:


> This is a great reply and so well thought out that it gave me chills.  Clearly you are pragmatic about this club soccer thing.  I will also add that your daughter is brilliant.  With girls the "fit" has to do with lots of other things than the soccer.  The new coach at ASU is surely going to benefit from Boyd's recruiting preferences.
> 
> Good luck to your daughter.  She sounds like she will do really well next season.  I will keep my eye out for her.


Actually she still has another year to go.  Class of 2018.


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