Conversation: Jay Heaps

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – During his 11-year playing career, Jay Heaps would do whatever it would take to win. Whether it was racing into the final third and firing a sudden shot on frame or getting in the face of an opponent, the Longmeadow, Mass. native never backed down from a challenge.

Recognizing the need to reinvigorate a squad that has stagnated in recent years, the Revolution front office hired the fiery Heaps as their newest head coach on Tuesday, even though the former defender had no MLS coaching experience on his resume. Sure, it may have been a gamble. But, it’s a gamble that the braintrust believes will net an enormous return.

Shortly after his first press conference as head coach of the team he spent nine of his 11 seasons with, Heaps sat down with New England Soccer Today ‘s Brian O’Connell to discuss his motivation for taking the job, the interview process, and his newest challenge: returning the Revolution back to respectability.

As someone who’s always been actively involved with the team, either as a player or as a broadcaster, for over a decade, there’s no question that your allegiances have always been with the Revolution. But when did the the head coaching job first pique your interest?

Jay Heaps: Quite frankly, I would have to say about…nine months ago. It wasn’t this job that piqued my interest, it was (the idea of) getting into coaching that started it. I think that doing TV, when you’re kind of seeing the league and you see what teams are doing and getting a perspective on them. I stopped looking at the games as “what would I do if I was playing?” to “what would I do if I was trying to attack that gameplan or build a gameplan against it?” So I think psychologically things changed, I would say, maybe 10 months ago and that MLS was where I wanted to go. But, in terms of coaching, and I rewind this back, I’ve always wanted to get into coaching. I think a lot gets lost in that I would take my offseasons and go down and spend 12-13 days at Duke and follow Coach K around and I was doing that to build my own thought process of taking what he does on the basketball court and using it out on the soccer field. So that was my whole thesis of why I spent time down there. And to be fair, when my retirement came, I had a choice: do I move my family and take a job somewhere else in coaching or do you take the opportunity at Morgan Stanley? So, without a current job and having to wait 6-8 for something to open up, I went into the (Morgan Stanley) interview with kind of…not really a recommendation, but I just went in, and I knew it was an opportunity and it turned into an unbelievable opportunity. I’ll never ever hide or shy away from the fact that I spent two years at Morgan Stanley and they taught me a heck of a lot about, not just capital markets, not just about fixed income, or investment banking, but they taught me a lot about how you have to show up everyday and what real work is, so to speak. So coaching is  – I never left the game. I think people think that all of a sudden because (the Revolution head coaching job) opened up and that I wanted to put in my name in (and that I was going to get it) is just a misconception, and that’s a very fair one because I’m sure that’s how it’s perceived. But, in terms of building a coaching resume, I spent a lot of time as a player of putting myself in the mindset of being a head coach. But really, when this opportunity came up, and when Stevie parted ways with the Krafts, I said, “look, I would like to get my name in there,” and I think I was already being looked at because of my personality – and every opportunity I got to get in front of Mike and Brian and, of course, the Kraft family, I was going to take that opportunity.

Somehow, that doesn’t come as a surprise those of us who have followed your career. But what was the interview process like, especially considering you’re interviewing with people who already know you and with whom you, yourself, are obviously already familiar with?

Heaps: That’s a great question. It’s an advantage in some regards, but it’s also a disadvantage because they already have a preconceived notion of that (I’m) passionate, and fiery, and that (I’ve) got a great work ethic and they know that already, which is great, but they’re also saying, “What else do you have?” “What else do you bring to the table?” And I think that I spent a lot of time as a player, and I don’t want to say this negatively, but what kind of process could we put in place…and I’m not talking about player acquisition, I’m talking about straight, from a locker room and strength and conditioning (perspectives) as a player, “what are we missing?” And I was never a player that didn’t think like that. I always had a cerebral approach to how the team could do better. So I already an idea of where everything was. When I went in there (the interview) with a vision of where this team was, from my perspective, and where I thought it could go and where I wanted the organization to go, and two different things “where do you want the organization to be?” and “where this team currently actually is and where do you think you can take it?” were two different ideas. I think that that helped me because I had a clear vision of what we had to do to get there, well, that’ll be where the hard work comes in.

Yeah, and speaking of hard work, I can only imagine the amount of hard work that you’ll have to undertake to assemble a staff of assistant coaches to help you implement that vision. During the press conference, Mike (Burns) referenced the fact that, during your interview process, you said wanted to bring in someone with a lot of experience to help you instill the changes you feel are necessary. But what other qualities are you looking for when it comes to hiring assistants?

Heaps: I think that, with experience, you also have to have implicit trust. For me, I have to have someone who I can just absolutely talk to about any matter regarding the team. Whether it’s who we’re going to pick up, who we’re going to release…we have too many moving parts too many people have too many roles that I have to be able to trust my number one, my number two that they can pick a player up if I say “we need some one in Costa Rica, a center back,” that I would like to look at, but if I can’t see that player firsthand, well then I would like to trust their instincts and I have to trust their analysis. So I have a pretty good sense of that, of who’s out there and who I’m going to bring in for this staff. I’m just excited to build it, to be honest with you. But, really, trust is right up there with experience. I’m not going to go out there and get someone who just has experience and isn’t someone who I can’t relate to and someone I can’t believe in, and vice versa. I want that person to know that when they come here, they’re going to work with someone they talk freely with that…I’m not looking for a “Yes Man”, I’m looking for someone to come in and speak freely because that is one thing that I kind of mentioned (during the press conference). I don’t care whether you’re a CEO or if you’re a head coach, good coaches – great coaches – surround themselves with people that will make them better.

One of the things that was touched upon during your press conference was the idea of utilizing MLS itself as a valuable resource for bringing in new players. Will that a be a particular focus of your approach toward player acquisition or will there continue to be a focus on international signings?

Heaps: International (signings) will continue to be our focus. And player acquisitions, because you’re not exactly sure what you’re going to get, can be tough in both respects. Taking each approach separately – I don’t one or the other is more important or less important. Where we’re at, with the number of players that we need to bring in to make this team better, I’m thinking three or four impact players and you just get those in the re-entry draft or just get that via international signings. I think both have risks and right now we’re putting a process in place where…where we’re going to focus and if it means that I’m going to focus just on the international and I think MLS almost comes second nature (to me) because I know this league. So it’s not like I have to spend more time kind of trying to find (MLS players). Obviously, if there’s someone coming up that we like, well then we’ll spend more time trying to do some research on him. Internationally, that has got to be a major focus because if we get some of the guys that we’re talking to joining our staff, well, they also have a wealth of knowledge (about international players). And one of their strengths is going to be international signings and that they actually have international contacts and connections and they’re going to have something set up in place. But, ultimately, the two of us are going to be having to make those decisions, along with Mike Burns.

You mention having to make decisions, and now as a head coach, you’ll be faced with, at some point, having to release a player. How would you handle that, especially if the situation was that you had to let go of a player that you were once teammates with?

Heaps: It’d be difficult. It’s not something I’m looking forward to, but that said, I think the way in which you handle it is important. You have to be very honest about why the decision was made. You don’t have to create this big story of why we’re letting you go, you have to tell them the truth. You know, the fact of the matter is A, or B, or it could be contractual or it could be that, look, from a salary cap standpoint, we can’t fit you in, but maybe somebody else can. But it’s never going to be, “we love you, we love you, we love you and see ya later.” I respected coaches that fed you the truth rather than what you wanted to hear.

Going into your first season as a head coach and really putting your fingerprints on a team that clearly has a lot to prove, what would be the one word that you’d want the 2012 Revolution to be known for?

Heaps: There are a couple. First, and foremost, there’s going to be accountability. I think that, day one, and I’m not just talking about the players, but the coaching staff as well, all of us are going to be held accountable. We have to elevate our game so that our players can have every opportunity to win. And, also as you’ve probably already heard, from a fundamental standpoint, we will not be outworked and there’s going to be a major emphasis on our workrate, what we’re doing from a strength and conditioning standpoint, and secondly, game preparation. And that is something that I’m going to hammer home. We’re going to have a gameplan going into every game. It’s not always about formation, but it could be, “what can we do from a team standpoint, that’s going to give us a better chance to win?”

“Revolution head coach Jay Heaps.” Has the sound of that sunk in yet?

Heaps: (Laughs) It’s starting to. I’m thrilled for the opportunity and I think somebody asked me “Is this a risky move?” But for me, and this is going to sound cliche’d, with high risk comes high reward. And I understand where people might stand on that, and I think that people are like “oh, this might be great but we want to see results.” All I ask is that they give me a chance and let me show them what we plan on doing.