Legacy Or Not, Yeagley Ready To Make His Soccer Mark

By now you know that Todd Yeagley is back in Bloomington charged with the task of restoring Indiana’s soccer greatness.

Yes, that means dealing with the legacy of his Hall of Fame father, Jerry, but he’s addressed that before. The bottom line -- he embraces that legacy, he doesn’t fear it, and wants to get the Hoosiers back to their title winning ways ASAP.

For the record, IU has won seven national titles, six while coached by Jerry Yeagley, one while directed by Mike Freitag.

Now it’s the younger Yeagley’s turn and his philosophy includes a go-for-the-jugular approach designed to bring back the intimidating presence the program once enjoyed.

For now, though, the focus is on the summer, and while NCAA rules prohibit Yeagley and his staff from working with his players, he has provided each with a blueprint for development.

“Each kid has a uniqueness we want to stress,” he said. “Some need games. Some need to get stronger. Some need more fitness and more functional work. We want to get them in an environment to help them grow, and they have to do it on their own.

“One thing that is a challenge for all the fall sports is that you have to come in ready. We can’t play catch-up with the fitness base with only two weeks of preseason. With what we want to get done these players have to be fit and ready for the challenge ahead. So they have to work on that fitness base and staying sharp. A lot are playing with different teams or clubs.”

Yeagley was a four-time All-America for the Hoosiers. He played seven years in Major League Soccer. He spent five years as an IU assistant coach and one year as the Wisconsin head coach before returning to Bloomington.

As athletic director Fred Glass has said, Yeagley has “IT,” that special quality that produces greatness. Come the fall Yeagley will get his first crack at proving it.