Russell Ries 0:37

Alright, well we're gonna start today. Tennessee State defeated Florida AM 29-26, picking up their first win on the season and improving to one and three on the year. Tennessee State will be off next week. Their next game is at Western Illinois on Saturday, October 3rd at 3 p.m. Middle Tennessee State University defeated Nevada 27-20, improving to 2-1. They open Conference USA play next weekend at Jacksonville State on Saturday at 6 p.m. Lastly in the college

Vanderbilt - NC State

Russell Ries 1:17

football world, Vanderbilt defeated North Carolina State 35-31 to improve to 3-0 on what might be the most improbable play you will ever see. True freshman Jared Curtis made his first career start and finished with 277 passing yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, and 64 rushing yards. However, it was the final play of the game that everyone will be talking about for a long, long time. North Carolina State led Bandy 31-28, faced a fourth and seven from their own five-yard line with six seconds remaining and attempted to run out the clock. Let's go to friend of the show, Andrew Allegretta's radio call of the final play to see what

Andrew Allegretta radio call

Russell Ries 2:02

happened. His incredible win yesterday. Vanderbilt will be opening SEC play at Auburn next Saturday at 3 15 PM on the SEC Network. And less exciting football news, the Titans opened their season last week against the Jets with a very uninspiring 23-10 loss. Cam Ward completed 19 of 32 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown, which honestly came in garbage time. The lone broadspot for the Titans was rookie linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., who led the team and also the league with 16 tackles, two passes defended, and he should have had a forced fumble and fumble recovery, but it was inexplicatedly not called after review by the refs. Head coach Robert Sala, after reviewing the game, said Monday, it was not good in any facet and in any phase of the football game. Salah also said, we also have to acknowledge we have a long way to go. That long road continues today as the Titans host the formidable Philadelphia Eagles at noon at Nissan Stadium. Hopefully they can put together a better showing than they did last weekend. The Nashville Predators opened their main training camp on September 16th with the first on-ice sessions happening on the 17th. Predators Prospects swept their two games at the 2026 Prospect Showcase, beating Carolina 4-1 and Tampa Bay 3-1. This week, the Preds engage in four preseason games today at Tampa Bay, Tuesday at home versus Tampa Bay, Thursday on the road versus Carolina, and Saturday at home versus Carolina. The NHL regular season starts a week from Thursday for the Predators as they welcome the Minnesota Wild to Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m. Upshot Nashville unveiled the official team name and logo on the 15th. They will be the Nashville Vibe. The vibe began play in 2027 at Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium as the Upshot League's sixth franchise. The team's blue and yellow color palette plays tribute to the flag of Nashville in Davidson County and can be seen on a number of other professional teams in town. The Nashville Sounds are currently 79-69, and they will not be making the International League postseason this year. They play their final game today versus Memphis at 6.05 at First Horizon Park before calling it quits for the season. Last night, Nashville SC defeated the Chicago Fire 3-0, clinching a playoff spot and reaching 60 points on the season. Nashville SC remain on pace to challenge the MLS single season point record of 74 set by Miami two years ago. They play again next Saturday when they host Toronto FC, along with Chicago, one of the few teams to have defeated them this year. They will host Toronto at 7.30 p.m. at Geodis Park. Goalkeeper Brian Schwackey and winger Ahmad Kossum will not be with the team next week because they have both been called up for international duty. Schwacky being called up to his first U.S. men's national camp and Qasom rejoining Iraq with whom he played during the World Cup. In other soccer news, Vanderbilt Soccer defeated Texas AM 5-0 on Friday night, now 1-0-1 in the SEC. Courtney Jones scored twice, including a second half penalty. Sydney Watts continued her prolific start to the season, scoring her ninth goal in nine games. Vandy will next be at Ole Miss on Thursday and travel to Tennessee on Sunday.

Darren Ambrose intro

Russell Ries 6:36

My guest this week is Darren Ambrose, the head coach of Vanderbilt Women's Soccer. Darren took over the program in 2015 and has become the winningest coach in Vanderbilt history. Under him, the Commodores have won an SEC regular season championship and two SEC tournament titles, reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 2024, and then earned the program's first number one NCAA tournament seed and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in 2025. Vanderbilt has carried that momentum into this season. The Commodores are now 8-0-1, and earlier this year they reached number one in the nation in top drawer soccer rankings for the first time in program history. I had a chance to chat with Darren earlier this week. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Darren Ambrose interview

Russell Ries 7:23

All right. Well, Darren, thank you so much for joining me. I know you guys are already in the middle of the season, getting busy. Congratulations on all the success that's happened so far.

Darren Ambrose 7:33

Thank you. Yeah, it's been a it's been a a good start. Um we've managed some little ups and downs within the group and injuries and things, but pleased so far with the you know the attitude of the kids and how hard to work in. And yeah, they've they've put in a lot. So good start for us.

Russell Ries 7:50

That's awesome. I know you uh you got a lot going on, so I'm just gonna dive into the questions. I ask everybody these first three. So, what is your earliest sports memory?

Darren Ambrose 8:01

My earliest sports memory. It's funny, you know, I played a lot of sports as a kid. Um, one of the earliest memories I have is actually going to Bramel Lane, which is where Sheffield United play. Um when I was barely seven years old. I think I was six and a half, actually, seven years old. And I went to watch them, and I'll never forget coming out up into the stadium, and I sat behind the goal in the what was like the family stand at Bramble Lane. So I was actually with my aunt, and it was Arsenal against Sheffield United in the FA Cup, and we lost 5-0, and I was crying because you know United was that was a team I was supposed to support, the two my aunt supporters. But I also remember coming out the gangway and just looking down on the field and just being blown away by how green it was and how white the lines were and just the atmosphere. I I can I I just it's burned into my mind. But then the thing is it's losing the game 5-0 and bawling my eyes out. I'm the terrible loser.

Russell Ries 9:09

I I think that uh most of the people that get involved in competitive athletics are are similar to that. So yeah. Okay, well, I think we'll cover this a little more in depth here in a minute, but how did you end up in Nashville?

Darren Ambrose 9:23

Um yeah, I mean, my my coaching journey had taken me all over the place. And I'd settled in Philadelphia. My wife and I, we uh had a nice position, a position I liked at Penn. The school stood for all the things that that I valued and and quality of education and great people. Um enjoyed the city. Um I got to recruit and spent a lot of time with great kids. Um But this is before obviously college sports exploded, but as as I'd been there 15 years, I didn't know that I could take the program much further. You know, we had won three Ivy championships, we'd finished in the top three for eight years, um eight of my last eight years. And it just I felt like I was working harder to stay where I was. And as as college sports was starting to change, you could feel it. We had a new AD come in as well in the in the summer. RED retired. And it all felt a bit, it just felt a little um the time was right. And then when Vanderbilt, the position opened up, I had lived in Memphis for five years. My wife and I had actually uh settled in Memphis early before I went to Penn a few years before. And like Tennessee, uh you know, some memories of Nashville. But it was really the school, it was really the attraction of you know an Ivy League environment type with great kids, kids who had something they wanted to achieve in life, very focused, very driven, high achievers, um, but also the opportunity to to compete in you know the biggest conference in the country. And I'm no different. Most people like I want to challenge myself and see what I'm made of, and can I, you know, can I do that? And um, so when the the position opened and um you know my name was was kind of circulated, and then when I met with the staff and Laurie Alexander and Candace Um you know brought me down, I I just thought they were fantastic people and I clicked with them straight away. And I think it's really the the you know kind of how they believed our sports should be and it aligned with me. So it seemed like a natural fit. Um and I had an opportunity to to do something with a program that had kind of underachieved, you know, for the most part in in you know, reach those recent years.

Russell Ries 11:23

Yeah, I think you're you're underselling that. So for people listening, Vanderbilt had had what five losing seasons before you arrived. So it sounds like you have a type of a school, educated, driven athletes.

Darren Ambrose 11:37

Yeah, I I just you know, one of the things one of my non-negotiables is I don't do lazy. I I just people that have talent that wasted, people that aren't driven, that you know, I I consider myself a pretty driven person and ambitious, and um, you know, I and I I've enjoyed being around those people. Um so it's been most of my career has been spent uh you know, Rhodes College, which is right here in Memphis. I spent five years at Rhodes, great school. Met some phenomenal people. Um so yeah, it was really uh the the school I also want to believe what I'm doing, believe in what I'm doing. And when I talk to families, you know, we'll talk, I'm sure, about about pro sports, but I've always believed that yes, everyone wants to go pro and now there are opportunities. But at the end of the day, the quality of education and what this opportunity represents to people, I want to believe in it, and I do. I absolutely do. My experience at Penn made me a believer in higher education and and what schools like this can can do for kids' lives. Um, so I wanted to be able to sit in front of families and and offer that wherever I could, and this just seemed to fit that mold.

Russell Ries 12:47

I'm curious too. You mentioned uh speaking to Candace Story Lee when when the job came open, and she has been so transformative for Vanderbilt. And I think it's been more noticeable maybe in the last five or so years. But was that vision was she articulating that to you in 2015 when you met, or is that something that's evolved?

Darren Ambrose 13:06

I I think Candace played the role she needed to play when I arrived. She I think she was a great buffer and a great translator for coaches as a former athlete at Vanderbilt and someone who had come through the athletic department, I think, and played at Vanderbilt, I think Candace always believed in what Vanderbilt could possibly be. I don't know if she was in a position to, you know, garner the resources at the time. Her job was really more about uh being a translator and providing what resources she could so that the staff at the time in different sports could could function at the best level they could. But because she's such a uh a compassionate person and a person of such integrity um and believes in people, when the job came up the second time after Malcolm, you know, even when it came up the first time after you know after David announced his retirement, we all, as coaches, wanted Candace to get the job because we believed in her. All the head coaches believed in Candace as way she treated people, uh what she thought athletics did for people, for for kids. She really without having necessarily been able to articulate the vision of facilities, resources, those things, she did understand the value of Annabelle and what we were doing. And when she did eventually get that that position, she was in a position to articulate we can do this, we can do this. And and I believe in what Vanderbilt can be. And I think we were really excited because she's always had that, but never been in a position to express it.

Russell Ries 14:36

That makes total sense. I want to pivot back to something else you mentioned, talking about not just the athletics, but the value of the education and sort of look at your past. You grew up playing for Sheffield United in the youth program, and then I believe you moved on to Doncaster. Yeah. Um before eventually coming to America and and pursuing the college route. Yeah. What led you to that decision and sort of could you speak to that a little bit?

Darren Ambrose 15:03

Yeah, it's it's a great question, actually. Now I mean I'm in my mid-50s now, and I look back and think, could I do that now? And I'm I don't know I would. In the 80s, that was a very that was an enormous leap of faith and a jump. And you know, my parents would would have told you that, yeah, I think you've always I've always been looking over the over the fence at where, you know, what's next and where can I go? And you know, I did play in England and in those days and for for the youth programs, and and I like every boy who's you know 14, 15, 16, I wanted to be a pro. And and I was fortunate to be in a position where that was not out of question. But in those days, you also had to choose at 16 years old. Are you gonna take a chance and try and be a pro? And after two years of making $25 a week, um, yeah, pretty much it was called a YTS uh youth training scheme. You are paid 20, as you were 28, 28, I remember vividly, it was 28, 28 pounds a week. Um after two years, they could just simply discard you and say, Yeah, you know, obviously you're not good enough, you're not gonna make it. But in those to go to university in England, you had to do what would be junior and senior year of high school here. So you would have to drop out of high school after sophomore year in England and take a chance on making it. And and I just wasn't I wasn't prepared to do that. My my mom was a driving force in education, and she felt she didn't take advantage of her opportunities, and she was be damned if you know if I was not going to take advantage of mine. So she, you know, I was heading to university. Um and and through my managers slash coaches at the time, learned about kind of opportunities to combine the two. You know, in the US, you can still play at a group level, combined my passion for travel and seeing the world, but it also meant I could go to university. So it was it was a was it a risk? Sure, I I it was, but it was calculated and and thought through as much as you can think through something at 18 years old. Um and and with it checked all the boxes. I just wasn't prepared to take a risk at that point and commit my life to something that may change in two years.

Russell Ries 17:05

Well, yet again, I think you need to give yourself more credit because uh, you know, the vision to make that decision as a young person in the 80s, given the disparate state of education, sort of not not just quality, but how school is structured in the UK versus it is here and college athletics. I I imagine that was a huge leap of faith, regardless.

Darren Ambrose 17:27

Yeah, I you you don't know what you're coming to, right? It's like you d you don't know what you don't know. And it's maybe youthful exuberance and uh yeah, again, ambition and the drive to try something, and you know, it was a shot to nothing. You know, if it failed, I'd I'd go home and I'd try and play and I would I'd go into banking. You know, I fall back, I could probably get a job in a bank somewhere, and you know, and and that was so it was again somewhat calculate calculated, but it it it it didn't feel at that time like a big risk. It didn't feel that way. And I look back, you know, ten years after thinking, wow, I'm here because I took a bit of a chance. You but you don't necessarily think that way. But I also had parents that encouraged it and supported me. And and I knew deep down that they you know they would they would support me and get where I wanted to go. So I knew that if it didn't work out, I would also be, you know, supported if I came back. And that was that was a huge part of that.

Russell Ries 18:22

Did you have any major culture shock moments either on the field or or just in the in life when you when you came over?

Darren Ambrose 18:29

Oh my goodness. I had loads. I mean, I I still to this day talk about uh first of all that the I say culture, the first thing was I I I arrived at Dulles Airport because I flew I flew into I had made a friend who played on the one of the the regional teams for the US and his name was Tane Nix and he played at UVA with Claudio Rena. And uh and and you know he had a pretty good team, they won four national championships, men's soccer back in the 90, 91, 92, 93, 89 through 93, I think. And I arrived to see him and spent time with his family. Well, I got off the plane, I'd never I'd never felt humidity like that in my life. Like I it was it was like July, and I the first week here, I'll just never forget feeling like I couldn't cool down, and then I learned what air conditioning was, like going into the house, and it was, you know, so those things. Um but truthfully, when I got off the plane in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and driving around and going to gas stations and listening to the accents, and I I mean it was, yeah, people couldn't understand me. Um, you know, I go through a drive-thru and you know, it would be a laugh, it'd be a joke, because you know, I'd ask for water and I have to repeat it, or no tomato on my burger. And people couldn't, they just couldn't deal with that. So yeah, it was it was uh man. There was a one of the people asked me if we had uh microwaves in England. I thought that was fantastic. You know, do you have microwaves and you know what's your washing your washing detergent like? These questions that were just out of left field. Like, you know, it's it is a it is an advanced country. We do have electricity and all those things too. So it was just it was everything turned my head. Everything. The billboards on the side of the road, you don't, you know, we need to get those in England. Um the food portions, how cheap it was. How cheap it was to live in the south in the 89. Like it's coming from England, which is an expensive place to live. So there are lots of things that just turned my head to this day.

Russell Ries 20:32

So after you graduated from it was USC Spartanburg at the time, right? Correct, it was USC Spartan.

Darren Ambrose 20:37

Yeah, upstate, yeah.

Russell Ries 20:39

How did you know you wanted to, or did you know you wanted to pivot into coaching? How did that transition go for you?

Darren Ambrose 20:45

No, I I didn't. When I came over the goal, look the plan, the plan was four years, get my business degree, go back, try to play if I if I was good enough. I'd been playing at it. I figured in college it was pretty good level. We were we were a very good team. And I would go back and try and play. And I I would get my job in. I'd always been banking and finance, international finance, that was where I was heading. After my freshman year, uh I did can I did some camps. Um when I came back to my sophomore year, our coach at the time, Dave Lindenberger, was doing some coaching education as part of his uh his role, and he offered uh to run a D-license course for the for any players that are interested. And I was like, you know what, this is that's pretty cool. I I like because I started coaching kids and doing camp. So I I got a taste of it early. And then it hit me, and I don't know when it hit me. I think we went to our coach's house and he had a really nice house, you know, bigger, bigger than the one I came from in England, and and my thought was wow, this is a really nice standard of living. You know, I'd just seen college dorms. I lived in a dog, so I didn't really know. But we went to a house and and his house, we had dinner, and I started to think about it like. I could actually maybe I could do this and have a lifestyle here. That's what would I do in England if I didn't play? Would I, you know, would I be able to make kind of job would I have? Well, I can stay in the game here. If I'm not good enough to play at home and there's no pro league, there was no MLS at the time, then I could coach and maybe I can make a a a living of you know significant above what I was used to in England and and and make it work. So that's how it started. And I started hearing about graduate assistantships and how I could prolong my time in the US and all the things that I so I started planning again, and I said, okay, if I do my coaching course here, then my C and go all the way through the licenses, I would I'd make a big push for it.

Russell Ries 22:45

And you mentioned being at Rhodes College uh in the early 90s. Was that the first job you did out of out of public?

Darren Ambrose 22:52

Yeah, it was, and and it's through through working 12 weeks of camp in the summer, basically from like mid-May, end of May to the first week in August. I mean, it was non-stop around the country, you know, planes, trains, and automobiles, running camps for different people. Um, and through that, I I met a guy who put me in touch with their coach at Rhodes, who was a friend, and he said, Can work a camp. So I worked at camp. I said, Look, I'm looking for a job. And he obviously he knew that. Um, I I networked and marked in myself as well as I knew how. Um I always believe, you know, that you can you can help yourself if you're not afraid to ask questions. And I would ask questions, hey, you're looking for an assistant? Like, you know, what so I would ask a lot of people, and and I eventually it led me to this path. And you know, my first job at Rhodes, I was I was I actually was in a master's degree at Memphis, University of Memphis. And it cost, I think it was $8,000 for the master's degree, and my stipend from Rhodes was $5,000. So I was negative $3,000 in the hole before I even you know bought a meal. So I worked, I worked a ton of jobs coaching two club teams, you know, I was assistant sports information director as well as the assistant men's women soccer coach.

Russell Ries 24:06

And I'm curious, so you you're in Memphis, it's the early 90s. You mentioned MLS hadn't come about yet, and as famously MLS had to be created as part of getting America the 94 World Cup. Yes. As someone from England who grew up steeped in the culture of football, what was it like to experience that World Cup and see this country kind of take on some of that?

Darren Ambrose 24:32

It was a very cool moment, honestly, because you know, you we always talk, even today, what is it, 30 years afterwards, that people are talking about, oh, you know, would you think soccer will take hold? Like it's taking hold, it's here. Like it's it's mainstream. But back then it was genuine. It was could could the sport survive? And to see the the the crowds and to see it be embraced was really cool. Uh, you know, I actually went to, you know, the time my um my girlfriend at the time became my wife, got me tickets for a birthday to Ireland, Holland down in Orlando. I went to a game down there. And then you remember how I said that Tane Nix was friends with Claudio Reina? Claudio Reiner was on the national team at that time. I went to the World Cup final. I actually attended the final in 1994 and I bought Claudio Reina's ticket off of Claudio Reyna outside of the Rose Bowl for 200, I want to say 250 bucks, I bought it for from him. And I sat with Claudio's dad because Claudio was with the US national team. So I met Claudio and I got to know him a little bit, but I uh I bought his ticket and went to the final in '94.

Russell Ries 25:41

That's really a really incredible story. And uh, of course, nowadays anything that mentions the reiners and parenting, you know, I think it picks people's ears up.

Darren Ambrose 25:50

Yeah, I I wouldn't do that.

Russell Ries 25:52

No, we don't have to touch on that.

Darren Ambrose 25:54

But yeah. Yeah, that was it was really it was really cool to be able to say, you know, I listen, I I yeah, my life has been about this sport. And and to go to World Cup final in the US as opposed to you know France or anywhere else, somewhere closer to home to England was was wild. I mean, getting to go to I'd never been to World Cup, let alone end up going to the final. Um, so yeah, that was a that was kind of a very cool experience, even though the game sucked. It was one of the worst games I've ever seen. It was boring, it was terrible.

Russell Ries 26:24

Well, I'm curious too, then you saw it in '94, and then obviously again we had the World Cup here this year. Did you get a chance to attend any games this time around? And and can you kind of compare and contrast the two experiences?

Darren Ambrose 26:38

Well, I don't know if someone set you up for that question, but I uh I went I went to four games. Um so I the hype around it was real. I just thought it was phenomenal. And we knew what to expect with the crowds and the culture, I think, from from being around the game so long. Um, so I I took my I my daughter is a huge sports fan. She lives in Boston, she's an Eagles fan, but she's lives in Boston. She's uh she loves the Prets too. Um she was, you know, one of my early memories of national sports is she and I and their run to the Stanley Cup finals sitting on Broadway, and we actually showed up on the TV. We had phone calls and texts from friends. Hey, you're just on TV on Broadway, sitting watching the game with my daughter. But but but the Scottish, right, the the whole um Tartan Army thing was real. And so I Boston I hosted Scotland, my my daughter's there, so I I bought I bought two tickets to go watch Morocco Scotland, and so I could take my daughter and have a day with her. And it was one of the one of the most fun days for me personally, and to experience it with my daughter who it was on her bucket list to go to a game and to do it with the Scottish who are the funniest, most kind people, great sense of humor, are there to party, but not in a way that is disrespectful or um you know crazy out of control, they're just having a good time, great sense of humor. It was a fantastic occasion. Um I actually worked three games at MetLife Stadium, and I was on the field for three games, and one of them was the final. So I've I've been to two World Cup finals, 1994 and 2026. Um the the story, the short story is the grounds, the head grounds guy at Vanderbilt several years ago, um Tyler Morris was in phenomenal, phenomenal person. He had off fields in great shape. He left this position to take actually the head grounds job at MetLife Stadium, which was turf, which I didn't understand. And he said, Well, we're gonna get the Club World Cup and the World Cup in the next three years. And I said, Ah, that makes sense. So we've stayed in touch, and he he I I called him, I said, Hey, or text him, I said, Hey Ty, any chance I could buy tickets for the England game through your office. And he said, Why don't you just come work? I said, What do you mean? And he said, Well, I can get you on the grounds crew and you can come and divot repair and put goals up and stuff like that. So I was like, sign me up, and uh, I did Germany, Ecuador, England, Panama, and then Spain, Argentina for the final. Wow, it was unlike anything I've ever been a part of. And I mean, bucketless moment, being in the tunnel with Messi, watching Harry Kane and the England group, you know, being English, listening to the fans sing, you know, Hey Jude, singing the anthem. It I mean, I had goosebumps everywhere. My wife and two daughters both I got them tickets to the England game. So it just was, I I mean, I can't even begin to tell you what it meant to be a part of that. And and to see the level of detail, security, organization, volume of you know, crates of water that they go through in a game because you see all that under the stadium, and you don't see the the thousands of people that are on hand to make that event work. It is absolutely mind-blowing to me. Um, the the the attention to detail of everything, including the field, uh, was remarkable. So, yeah, it's that just quite an experience.

Russell Ries 30:21

That is really, really incredible. Um and it's something you just said reminded me that I actually haven't asked you my my third question that I ask everyone. We just kind of got into the conversation, which I like, but would you say that that Preds run is one of your favorite Nashville sports moments? Yeah. Or what would you identify?

Darren Ambrose 30:38

No, it is absolutely why because my family got into it. My daughter, again, big, big sports fan, and she hadn't um, I don't think at that point, I don't remember what year that was. Was it seven, eighteen, seventeen?

Russell Ries 30:48

17, I believe.

Darren Ambrose 30:50

Maybe somewhere. So she hadn't gone off to college yet. And and with the summer, you know, it was getting into into May time, June time, I think it was. And the whole city caught the the right caught it. And it was just to be a part I I love being a part of of any team, right? Everyone's everyone's pulling for the same thing. And that was at its finest, that's what that was. The city behind it, and this Broadway closed, and you know, enjoying the games, and it was exciting. So that would be that would absolutely be my you know one of my favorite, you know, Nashville moments for sure. And the other one was actually going to my first Nashville SC game, um, you know, in the new stadium. I I just you know, I have a lot of a lot of credit to John Ingram, who is a big benefactor to athletics here, and he's a he's a guy I call a uh a friend, and and he's he's such a great supporter of of all things Vanderbilt, not just sports, but to see that come to pass in Nashville, the passionate fans, first class way of doing things, and just to tell you that saying I'm I live in Nashville, we have it, this is my team now. Like this is my team. And I knew the coach, Gary Smith. Actually, I knew Gary lives next three doors, four doors, I know, five houses away from me. So knew Gary, um, know BJ. I grew up, you know, coaching in Philly. Well, BJ was in Philly at the time. But that first game, the fireworks, the crowd, thinking this is gonna work. This is cool. I'm just proud to be a part of that.

Russell Ries 32:19

Yeah, I love that. I completely agree. It's it's been so exciting to me to see Nashville enter the global sports marketplace with Nashville SC. I, you know, I love the Titans, love the Predators and all that. But the fact that we will play teams from Mexico and Canada and hopefully one.

Darren Ambrose 32:36

Well, we had Liverpool, Liverpool come over. Last year they played Aston Villa in a in a preseason, right? Liverpool, Sunderland came this year, like every year within teams that people want to see, um, whether they play Nashville or not, but it's opened, it's a gateway now and it's opened that door. Uh, I agree with you. It's kind of cool to be again, if you're especially if you've like I grew up in England, Liverpool, Sheffield United was my team, Liverpool was my other, you know, my kind of soft spot. But to see those teams here in Nashville playing, it's really a it's really kind of something for me.

Russell Ries 33:06

I want to now pivot. You mentioned liking to be a part of a team. Yeah. And I mentioned earlier when you came to Vanderbilt, had five losing seasons. Since then, you have turned the program around in a dramatic way, won SEC championships, reached the Elite Eight, just recently earned your first number one national ranking. Yeah. Looking back on that process, what were the most important steps in building the culture and the team that into what it's become today? And was there a point that you really felt like you had turned the corner into sort of the vision that you wanted?

Darren Ambrose 33:42

Yeah, it's another great, great question. Um, I think there are a series of small wins that I look at. And one of the one of the first ones where I drew a line in the sand is in the weight room. And it was in the first spring I was here. And and honestly, at that point, I had a lot of players who I wasn't sure what the motivations were for being here. You know, when you've had you haven't had a lot of success or enjoyed the experience necessarily, or you're just here for that's never gonna align with with my idea and my vision of turning this into a program competes for championships. So very quickly you have to draw a line in the sand and and you're gonna find out, you know, kind of who's gonna get on board and who's not. And you know, we talked about about reps, and I'll never forget we had an individual cut reps in the weight room, and we basically stopped the I stopped everything, and we uh we made it pretty clear the team did fitness while that young lady watched because she basically cheated the team. And I felt like we made a very big statement. Um, and then the other thing is we made them, you know, we talked about earning the gear, and we still talk about that, and the right to wear to wear the V. And I, you know, so we talked about until you pass fitness tests, you will not, and I brought this actually, you know, again from from Penn, but you won't get issued your team gear until you pass fitness tests. And you know, if you've if you're not earning it, then what are we about here? So so we stood behind that. That even today, if players don't pass the fitness test, they don't get to wear the logo, it's just not it's not appropriate. Um, so they're early wins with that, but from a from a getting our I think substantial steps, I would say beating Ohio State in 20, and the making the NCA tournament was a big moment. You know, I I would say going to Orange Beach in my first year with the team was one of the greatest sense of fulfillment because a lot of that team had had a losing mentality, had not known how to win. And going to Orange Beach and making the quarterfinals for the first time. So we beat Georgia, we made the quarter first year, we made the quarterfinals. That group had never been to Orange Beach, they wanted to be in the tournament, we made it. Made it the next year, made the quarterfinals again. Um 2017, um, we we were there again, but we made the NCA tournament. And you know, not only did we make it, you know, we beat Ohio State in the first round. And I think that was a moment where I was like, okay, we we've made our mark here. Yes, we made the tournament, but we weren't just an also round that got you know you know booted out. And you know, the following year we did the same. We lost to Baylor in the second round. But it it's been one of those things. That was a that was a big that was a big moment. And I think it just moved the knee leech time. Um we made the semifinals, uh, yeah, we won the league in 2018, first time, and that was four years into my time here. So my first full recruiting class came through with transfers. And I think that was the flag in the ground of we're for real, guys. This is you know, and then 19 we won the East, finished second, and then 20 we won the tournament. So there have been steps along the way that you kind of benchmark whether it was something as little as you know, understanding weight room reps and what it means to do the work, um, you know, making an SEC tournament, but then making it to the quarterfinals, which I think we've done nine. I think we've only lost in the first round twice, and and we've been for 10 years. So twice in 10 years we've lost in the first round. We've made the quarters or the semis or the final in the end of the year. So it's just establishing that as a norm. And and, you know, to me, a norm, a standard, which is again an overused word today. What I see it is if it's a standard, you don't talk about it. Because if it's a standard and it's normal, then why are we talking about it? We're still talking about going to a final four and making Elite A because it's not normal. We haven't done it regularly, we've never done the final four. So that's still right, that's still the objective, that's the mission. But on the SEC tournament, doing those things, we don't talk about that. That's that's that's that's our standard, that's what we should be doing, right? That's what we expect of each other. And I think now that's taken hold. We are learning right now how to be a championship team. And what that means is we've we've won, we've taught, we taught the program how to win. Right? We taught the individuals how to win, which is self. You compete with yourself first. Once you can compete with self, that's where it starts. Once you compete with self, you can talk about winning. Winning is against an opponent, competing is with self. So we went from competing to winning. Now it's about handling winning. How do you handle winning, which we've shown we can we can do? Once you show you can handle winning, you become a championship level team every year. We're not there yet. But that's the hard one to to really to sustain, and that's what we're learning. How do you how do you meet expectations of yourself now and everybody else's and every other team's best shot? Right? Every team's adjusted this year to play against us in a different way that we didn't expect. So, how do we, once we understand that and can manage that, we will put ourselves in a position to win a championship every year. And I think we're learning that. Like we were number one for the first time you mentioned last week. I didn't talk about it with the players. You know, we tied Georgia, we're now probably, I don't know, we're probably down to four, five, or six. I really don't care. But my point is that until you get there, and then you fall off again, you get there, fall off a couple of times, and you realize what you've got to do to stay up there. And I think that's the learning process that is sports.

Russell Ries 39:13

I think that's really interesting. And I'm sitting here thinking, while you've been building this and and kind of pushing upward and upward and upward, there have been these other dramatic shifts in the sports landscape within IL, but also with the emergence of you know really viable women's pro leagues. Yes. How have you kind of managed navigating that? Obviously, there's been success and there continues to be, but that must have been pretty tricky to do sort of simultaneously, no?

Darren Ambrose 39:42

Yeah, it it has been because you know, again, we were limited on scholarships. The the number of scholarships permitted under the old NCAA rules was 14. And you carry a roster of 20, you know, 26, 28, 30 in soccer. And so, you know, trying to trying to talk to people, no matter how great the school is, into paying 40 grand a year if you give them 50%, you know, of the time. Now it's 100,000 a year. So, you know, but imagine you, and yet every other school in this league is lower tuition and has academic scholarships as well as athletic scholarships. So they were they were having to you know pay five thousand or nothing to go to most of these other schools. So that was that was one of the reasons it it it kind of was was hard early on. NIL is changing, it's filtering down to Olympic sports, right? It's I think it started out as very much we know as a football, basketball, baseball, you know, women's basketball, really started with that. And it's filtered down into our sport. And it is something we are managing as I speak to you. I mean, it's something that is new, it's something that, you know, I think Candace and and her staff have wrapped their heads around as to how do we support all of our teams here. I think there are probe there's programming and staffing that's growing year after year that is allowing us, you know, to support our kids that way. So it really is industrial, you know, our industry is changing. I I want to say every six months, but it feels like it's every month. You know, but we've had significant change in a in a major industry at least once a year for the last four or five years. Whether that be roster limitations, which is also something because you had to adjust your roster size, whether that be transfer portal and how that was used, so that waivered that, opened up a whole new world with roster limitations, whether that was NIL, scholarship changes, uh, which were which were healthy but also resulted in a different recruiting strategy. So there's just been you know revenue sharing, there's just been this constant stream. Then the fifth year, so now we're dealing with the fifth year, the ramifications for that. It kind of just has never the the earth is constantly moving under your feet. And yet you're just trying to still manage this group to give them the best experience to keep them focused on things because they're hearing it too. They they NAL, can I get this? Can I do that? You know, I I think it's it's been a lot. Um, I think it's a lot for anybody in this industry right now.

Russell Ries 42:09

That must be a really hard balance to strike. You mentioned sort of keeping the players focused and in athletics in particular. You have to stay in a moment, but you as sort of the the leader and CEO of the program also have to be looking far ahead. How do you do you like to take stock after each season? Or what do you do to kind of yeah?

Darren Ambrose 42:29

I do an audit. I mean, I do an audit of a season in my own way. I sit and think, I write things down we need to change for next year. I look at our staff and I think about what they do. And um on the day-to-day basis, to be honest with you, and I give full credit to my staff, to to Casey, Jenny, and Callum and Rachel in particular. Um, that that staff does a lot of the day-to-day and they do it really, really well. The structure of most sports now, and I I don't think we're unique, but maybe maybe we are, but you know, a lot of the day-to-day handling of X's N's and scouting and things like that is is actually falling to into roles of experienced assistants, and I have them, and then they're very capable. It allows me and really to think bigger about messaging, about what's coming down the road, how we're going to position ourselves for that. Um, so there's there's I still get to do obviously video and some of the coaching and all that. I I'd love that, but I also know they can do that as well. So yeah, building out you know, alumni fundraising, trying to figure out ways to support all the other things that we want to do. And also for our kids, I want to give them a great experience. So, what else can we provide for them outside of you know the soccer experience and all the support they get for school? How do we make this a place that they don't want to leave? Or when they do leave, that they are completely prepared for what the world's gonna throw at them when they get there.

Russell Ries 43:48

To that end, Vanderbilt recently launched the uh Anchored for Her initiative. I think it's like fifty million dollars to invest in specifically in women's athletics. Yep. How will that? investment to play a role in your program and and what will that mean to you and your team moving forward?

Darren Ambrose 44:06

Yeah I I think you know as Vanderbilt's athletic footprint grows and changes which we've all seen if anyone's been near here and been on campus it's just I can't even think six years ago, five years ago what it looked like now. We're we're moving to that next phase of of really looking at Olympic sports and and we've already got tennis and golf and done and now we're we're next and I think the you know facilities are still a part of the experience especially when you have a team like like this one with athletes who are going to go on to be pros and we've got a lot of them currently that are playing post college we've got 16 or 17 around the world they want we we want elite facilities we want to be able to to offer that experience to them to maximize the development as as a as a professional athlete I think the the additional scholarship the support for NIL things like that are all a part of now the college experience outside of the classroom um Vanderbilt the education the network of people the alumni the uh immersion experience the things that are available on campus the forward thinking chancellor we have I think is is one part of it when it comes to athletics that's also where a lot of these kids want to spend a lot of their time and I think this anchored for her is a big statement towards the importance of women's sports. Women's pro leagues are I mean they're great we have two women's pro leagues two soccer pro leagues now you know there's 30 some odd pro teams there's hundreds through the world and a lot of these women are going to play overseas too it's a career it's a legitimate career for young women. So our our role is to prepare them as best we can for that at the same time they've got the safeguard of hey I want to go be med school or I want to go to law school or I want to go into HR or I want to go into medicine and something they get that too and we are fortunate to be able to provide the best of both of those things. And anchored for her is is really about providing that best experience the competitive facilities peripheral programming and one of a kind uh in the country.

Russell Ries 46:11

It does sound like a a really appealing pitch to be able to make not only can we prepare you for professional leagues but you you leave with a Vanderbilt education which is yeah yeah I mean it it's not my job to decide if they're good enough to play pro.

Darren Ambrose 46:25

That's the pro scouts that's their job. My job is to put them in a position where if they're good enough they'll get picked up but also to provide them with an experience and lessons from this program that I think will stand them in good stead. The Vanderbilt Network alumni the degree itself the reputation of the school should open doors and does open doors for them and then when they go into those roles using what they've learned here to propel themselves through a career is is really the goal.

Russell Ries 46:51

All right I want to pivot a little bit to the current team now just in the last little bit of time that we have Sydney Watts has obviously had an incredible start to the season and she's clearly been a strong player but what has kind of driven her pushed her forward this year and for people who aren't as familiar with the team who are some other names that you would highlight as as playing the way that you want Vanderbilt to play and indicative of the program that you are building?

Darren Ambrose 47:20

Yeah I think we we can start with Sid and obviously as a goal scorer typically the people you see right you read the most about are the goal scorers sometimes the goalkeepers right they're the at both ends of the of the field. So statistically you know from being a goal scorer Sid has played that role and played it well led the team in scoring last year she had nine in her sophomore year and freshman year was you know I think I would I would classify that as a big learning curve for Sid in what she had to do to play at the college level and to maximize the athlete she is and she's a tremendous athlete but it's not just being athletic. It's how do you use that and how do you push that forward and I think Sid learned I think this year the biggest thing is I think she's shown that she wants it a little bit more that she's really you know teams are actually playing to stop her so it's it's limiting believe it or not there's fewer chances for Sid to score this year because teams have actually dedicated part of their game plan to stopping her. Last year I don't think that was quite as big a deal. As the season went on it became more evident but you know the first two thirds of the season you know we played and and we did what we did and but then people started to pay attention right out of the gate this year people have planned to stop her which makes it even more kind of you know unique and impressive that she scored eight goals in or eight games when people are trying to stop her. So I think there's a part of her that really wants she's more efficient this year in in what she does. And I think she just she wants to put herself in those positions and you know she's got that you know there's a selfishness that goes with being a forward that is a positive in a positive manner. And we see selfish as a negative term and it can be if it comes at the expense of of others. But I think what you know we talk about Sarah she wants to score she wants the ball she wants to figure out how to score you know and if that's that's the number one job of a striker and she's doing it and that's what it takes that's what it takes. And this year I think she really wants that. I would tell you the other you know we talk about being the the toughest and fittest most prepared team in the country that's our identity that's what we want by those standards I would I would tell people want to watch Courtney Jones. She's a central midfield player she'll she'll be a pro very soon she is a tough kid she completes most of the passes she everything we do go if you know the game she'll touch the ball if we're gonna do something well she'll touch it she's involved in a lot Melania Fullerton who is also a tough kid plays as a midfield player for us is another one that embodies all those qualities of competitor and toughness and fearlessness. I think Margot Matula our centre back is very much an unsung hero of this team she is tough as nails fearless and also we may not consider this most people don't when it comes to defenders but she is one of the most elite passes of a ball in her position I think that there is you know she regularly has a hundred passes a game ninety passes a game and she completes a lot of them so you know we've got Olivia Stafford who was with the U19 national team this summer for three trips fun exciting unpredictable you know just just really fun to watch creative you know those are the players to keep an eye on for sure and and there may be others that people can watch especially young girls who she plays my position and I'm gonna watch her and we've got a lot of a lot of good players on the field.

Russell Ries 50:37

And when this team is firing on all cylinders what should a casual fan look for in playstyle what tells someone that Vanderbilt is doing exactly what they want on the field right now we're probably gonna pass the other team to death we're gonna we're gonna move the ball quickly efficiently under control down the field.

Darren Ambrose 50:57

We're not a team that regularly you know hits a 50 yard pass that there obviously there's a large margin of error with those passes we are someone that a team's identity that we are very good in possession when teams press us we we generally tend to be able to play through it or around it. We're gonna control the tempo of the game. If things are going well we're gonna have a lot of passes and when we lose it we're gonna win it back really quickly and do it again. And limit limit the teams our opponents' opportunities to have the ball for long periods. That is our strength and we're committed to winning the ball back quickly if we're on and firing our cylinders and when we get it we're gonna keep it and we want to create high quality chances not just chances we want high quality chances so most of our shots will come from inside the box.

Russell Ries 51:45

And you are now five and oh at home on the season and have one of the longer active home winning streaks in the country is it that play style that has made Vanderbilt such a difficult place to play or what what about the atmosphere in the program has changed to make it such a daunting place for visiting teams?

Darren Ambrose 52:03

Yeah I I think there's a a little bit of of there's a comfort level our team has with the field, with the routine I think there's a home field piece but I also you know the our crowds are getting a little bit bigger um this year we've really doubled down on on selling on the idea of this is a great team and this is a fun team to watch it wins get behind it and you know bring your kids because it's it's a great environment a couple hours of of high quality soccer with a lot of kids on the field who you may see on TV in the next five years. So I think that there's a combination of things in how we play and the style we play and the comfort level we have on our own field of doing that. Obviously we've done it away from home too a few times but at home it's certainly I think uh uh something we feel very confident about very positive about you know when our crowd does come and we do get the big crowds on a Friday night and it it can be a really a really fun festive atmosphere and and that only adds to the way our kids perform frankly the bigger the crowd the higher up they get for the game that's great and uh to wrap it up is there anything happening around Vanderbilt soccer or college soccer the sport in general that you think deserves more attention or something you maybe hoped I would have asked that I haven't touched on no I I think it's a it is a a a sport that we you know the best players in this country on on both sides mentored as well let's talk about the women's it's clear when we coach them it's the players who have watched the game and we have such a good team here that young girls who play the sport young boys who play the sport could learn a ton just by watching this team and the things they do coaching is is yes as a part in their development but what we call self-development and taking a little bit of ownership in their own development is watching and you learn the nuances by watching so we I think that's you know the one thing I would say about the growth of the game for women the growth of women's game is going to come and the level is going to rise as we have more pro leagues and more games on TV and opportunity to go see good teams play watching those teams is a way to accelerate the growth of younger players and I and I hope that that's something whether it's in Nashville here or whether it's in in Memphis or Birmingham Alabama taking taking young girls to go watch these women play is a way to motivate and inspire. And it's worth the you know drive through a McDonald's or coming and getting a hot dog and a beer in the stands and you know a couple hours it's worth it because it will pay off if if they are you know committed to growing and getting better and a fun way to do it is to watch. So I think women's soccer is on the rise in college. I think it's growing attendance figures are getting up all through the SEC there are multiple teams of set attendance records.

Russell Ries 54:50

We lead the country in average attendance so I do think that women's soccer is is a growing Olympic sport not shrinking especially at this level I think that's a really exciting note to end on coach Darren Ambrose of Vanderbilt Women's Soccer thank you so much for spending the time with me today congratulations on the success and we look forward to seeing where the season takes you all. Thanks Russell this was awesome I really enjoyed the uh the conversation