Colorado Mesa University (CMU) hired Jon Fridal as their new men’s head soccer coach.
CMU men’s soccer has always been good, but for Fridal, it’s time to be elite.
The Mavericks have enjoyed a lot of success in the past decade. After amassing eight winning seasons in a row, five NCAA tournament appearances and a 2014 trip to the national semifinals the Mavericks are more than primed to take another step.
But with the addition of their third head coach in three years and a season shortened by the pandemic, CMU had little margin for error. Onto the scene came Fridal.
CMU hired Fridal during mid-December of 2020, he arrived in Grand Junction in January. Three months later, Fridal already appears to have his players all in and ready to win.
“The first time I met him I felt he would be a great help for the team. It’s been a pleasure playing for him,” senior midfielder Ramses Atahualpa said.
But for Atahualpa, change didn’t come easy to the players.
“The transition was pretty shocking. Fridal has a totally different way of playing soccer [from the last two head coaches]. He wants every practice to feel like the game: warm up, stretching, training–everything. It’s been a lot more intense in every single aspect. From the beginning to now, you can see a huge positive change,” Atahualpa said.
Fridal has a long history of making big differences in a little amount of time. Before coming to CMU, Fridal was the head coach of league rival, Eastern New Mexico University (ENM).
Before he arrived there, ENM had won just four games the previous season. Before the end of the year, the Greyhounds were ranked as high as ninth in the nation.
It was a similar story at Indian Hills Community College. Their soccer program had won just six games prior to Fridal’s arrival. They finished that season with a top five national ranking and an appearance in the national quarterfinals.
For Fridal, he owes a lot of that success to the culture he inspires.
“Instilling a culture that we hold ourselves to a high expectation in everything that we do. If you’re going to have an elite opportunity like this, you have to hold yourself to elite standards. Average people don’t get elite opportunities so you have to want to be the best at everything that you do. If that’s the approach you take with everything in life, then you’re going to be successful in a lot more than just soccer,” Fridal said.
But one thing that Atahualpa values most about Fridal’s culture leans heavier on camaraderie.
“He’s taught us to be more like a family. Everyone counts on everyone. That was our main issue a few years ago. Fridal’s been taking care of that aspect very well,” Atahualpa said.
For coach Fridal, it’s his style that makes him unique.
“It’s our organization, it’s the way we play. We have a really fun style of play and it’s well balanced. So at times we’re very disciplined but then we give the guys the freedom to find different combinations or to create something individually,” Fridal said.
The Mavericks are taking things one step at a time but for the moment, the goal is clear. Be elite. Their first game of the season is March 21 at 2:30 p.m. in Grand Junction, Colo.
