Orlando City Coach’s Show Recap: Ian Fuller Talks New England, Looks Forward to Kansas City

On this week’s Orlando City Coach’s Show, head coach Adrian Heath was replaced by assistant coach Ian Fuller to discuss Saturday night’s loss to the New England Revolution, look forward to this coming weekend’s game against Sporting Kansas City, and other aspects around Orlando City SC

New England Revolution Game

"This is like a yearly thing. They really start to hit the top of their game towards the playoffs and we played them at kind of the wrong time for us."

"We went up there in kind of a more defensive shape to keep us in the game."

"We wanted to stay in the game as long as possible."

"The goal came at the wrong time for us. We'd managed a strong wave of theirs about 25 minutes into the game."

"We wanted to stay good and compact and I thought we did that for large parts of the game."

Going Back to New England

“I played with Jay Heaps with the Revs so it was good to see him.”

Difference Between USL and MLS

"There's staff to do everything. Back in the USL days I was kind of the kit man and held water and got balls pumped up."

"(In MLS) You can fine tune your craft."

Turnaround to Next Match

"It never stops really. About an hour or two after the game, the emotions calm down, so an hour or two after the game you're thinking ahead."

Advantages of Big Staff

"Adrian built the staff specifically to do certain roles."

"The good thing about having lots of staff and lots of competent staff is that we can focus on doing tactics."

Ian Fuller's Youth

"I grew up in the middle of the state of Washington in farm country. We lived on a dairy farm. I had two older brothers and a younger sister. The older brother got into soccer and we didn't really have a choice, we were going with him. My dad then got into soccer, a surfer that knew nothing about the game. We all got into it and my dad ended up being a college soccer coach on the outskirts of Portland for a women's program there and I just always wanted to be a coach. It was just something that came natural to me. I loved the game so much and thought about it differently than just the playing aspect of it and kind of wanted to mimic a few of the coach's that I'd had growing up."

Soccer in Portland

“When the NASL started back in the day they had a bunch of Englishmen, Brits came over and it ignited a soccer craze in the city and after the Portland Timbers kind of gained traction with the women’s program and the men were good back in the day, it’s just a massive soccer town. I hadn’t really seen it until I came here.”

Playing at Clemson

"It was different (than Portland). I loved every second of it. It taught me to become a man really. Going to college away from home, especially a plane ride, you have to grow up really quickly. Especially under Trevor Adair at Clemson, he's going to treat you like an adult and you better be. I still love Clemson, I still follow the school religiously, soccer wise and for the football and basketball."

"I talk a lot about Clemson. I kind of dig myself a hole."

"They've won three and they drew last night with Coastal Carolina who was also a good team. So the soccer teams are doing really, really well."

Starting in Coaching

"I got my B license about 10 years ago and that's when I really got interested in it. I had Mark Watson as an assistant in Charleston. I loved his persona and the way he is and the way he speaks with the guys to get the best out of them. So I just took bits and pieces of coaches I really liked and working under Adrian, it's been fantastic for me and I've loved every second and will continue to grow."

How Connected with Adrian Heath

"I was playing in Charleston and Austin needed a player on loan. Our season had ended in Charleston and the Austin season was still going and they were fighting to push on to the playoffs. Adrian happened to call the club in Charleston and I was happy to just learn from them. I was obviously going to play but he told me ‘Listen, I know you want to get into coaching. Even if you just come here to learn from me for the next two months.' And I loved every second of it. And I thought that was that. Austin was picking up and moving to Orlando and I got a phone call from Adrian asking if I wanted to be his assistant and it was probably the best news I'd gotten in years."

"When Adrian called I jumped at it. To learn from him on a full-time basis was a no-brainer for me."

Still Itching to Play

"I was done years ago. I probably played a year too long but it worked out great for us. It was smart from our standpoint because we got another player under budget. It worked out for the USL level and I loved the days working under Adrian as a player and coach and look forward to doing that as an assistant."

Soccer in Orlando

"I knew there was something special going to happen in Orlando. From the moment we kicked off was in 2012, I believe. I knew with Adrian I had to stay with this guy. He's a genius, a soccer genius. It just happened that we were able to push on and go to MLS here and I'm dead pleased about it."

USL Coaching

"It was hands on day-to-day everything. We loved that and we love what's going on now but it definitely helped us out with what we're dealing with now. We know everybody's role pretty much in the club and it's no secret we had a big part of what we were doing back in the day. It was great for us."

Becoming a Newcastle United Fan

"My brother went to England when he was 15 years old and I was 11 and Alan Shearer was banging in goals. He brought me back a shirt and I idolized my brother. And their fans were passionate and reminded me a lot of Clemson fans and how passionate their fans are."

Lessons for Players

"Play to your strengths. If you don't have pace and are not an attacking oriented player, you probably shouldn't be attacking guys one-v-one."

Aspects of Professional Coaching

"The first thing you have to look at is age and the level you're coaching at. At the professional level there's a lot more management and day-to-day activities more than coaching. There's obviously coaching aspects of what we do, obviously we're out there on a day-to-day basis with the guys on the field, but managing the players, Adrian does an amazing job at that. With a lot of the younger players you're coaching them, not managing them. You're coaching their technique or the tactical stuff in their game. There's always an aspect of each depending on what level you're at."

Getting Away From the Game

"With the recent stretch we've been on we haven't been able to. It hasn't been fun."

"Earlier in the year when we were doing better we'd have a golf outing with the owners and it was a good time. We probably have to get away from being tuned in, zoned in but it's been tough at the moment."

Sporting Kansas City

"I can't say we didn't circle this game on the calendar. It's been a while since we've seen some of these guys, a year for some of them."

"It's a necessity that we get three points. We're going to go after it."

"They play really high on the road. They definitely hold a line and when you cross that line they are full tilt and try to get a lot of numbers around the ball to counter and get players forward."

"We're going to try to get numbers around them especially when they do get the ball because they like to counter and we can counter their counter."