North Carolina FC coach John Bradford talks a new team coming together to start the preseason. NC FC moves back to the USL Championship this year.
As John just a couple of days in the preseason so far. What's the uh the environment been like so far? No, very positive, you know, obviously, it's a, it's a blend of a few guys that were here um in last year's successful season in the league, in league one and then now bringing a lot of new faces. So uh guys are getting to know each other on and off the field. Um The intensity is, is what I wanted to see, which has been been great. Um So we know it's gonna take time but it's a good start, you touched on those new basis and when you kind of go through the process of signing some new players, what were some of the goals that you want every player to have? Yeah, I mean, obviously, um the locker room is extremely important to us, you know, and, and the character the guys have um like I mentioned on and off the field is huge. So um a lot of talented guys there but, but even more important to us is guys that can help one another and, and kind of raise the level of the culture Yeah, I mean, we had a talented group last year. Um, and, and everybody was kind of fighting in their own way to, to promote themselves. And obviously the announcement was made in the summer. And so, um, a mixture of, of what we knew they brought to on the field and, and how we thought they would kind of gel in, in, in a higher league with other players. Um, but yeah, everybody so far has shown really well. You got essentially half of the last surgery, new players, uh people that have a lot more experience, how do those two groups come together? Uh I know it's still early, but what's that vision that you see? Yeah, I mean, I think there's, there's some guys obviously that bring us L championship and MLS experience to the group. Um, and, and some of our players that went to league one roster had that last year as well. Um But yeah, I think just getting the ball in the field and, and getting the guys started and, and letting the kind of training sessions set the tone for, for how they interact and all that, um has been positive. So, uh I don't think the, the experience is not separating the guys in any way. Speaking about of change sessions, uh setting the tone, it seemed like the tone was set out the other day and it seemed like it was, uh, a high energy and high spirit. Yeah, I mean, I, I want to be able to share immediately with the players that are coming into the environment for the first time what our expectations are and, and how we like to train, how we like to compete. Um where every day is something to, to get better and, and to try to improve themselves. Um And I think they welcomed it, you know, that we were intense yesterday. We were intense today. Uh We'll, we'll be intense tomorrow and then we'll, we'll understand it's also the first week and kind of taper it off a little bit as we go into the first preseason game against Loudon on Saturday. How is the uh transition of the sporting director been? I don't know how much, how much different things are actually meant for you, but have, have you seen it has been nice to have like really good old team and maybe, yeah, I mean, I think the, the transition in that role is, has, has been um a little bit more planning, you know, a little bit more long term and, and, and kind of setting the idea for how the club wants to go on the side. Um You know, I've always been involved heavily in the, the recruitment of all of our players and the signing of the players and that kind of thing. And so I think that that branches now into how do you balance, you know, building a roster to compete to, to hopefully, um you know, be at the top of, of us L championship but also have some players that, that we have a vision for that can potentially move on in the future. Is there a, is there any difference between at least, um, culture, I guess between what we saw last year in league one and, or championship this year? Is it just the same team at a different level? How, how do you see that? No, I think it's a, I think the, the level has been raised for sure. Um And obviously we were in us l championship um, previously, you know, before we went down to league one, but I think the league as a whole has, has improved, you know, the the rosters are better, the investment is higher. Um The environments are, are, are improved. So, um you know, for us, it's an exciting moment to, to raise our own level too, you know. So I think that the, the, like I said, the players that, that we knew from last year and, and that had success in this, in this stadium here um in 2023 mixed with the talent that we brought in in 2024. It's gonna be exciting year. Cool, thanks guys.