11 Questions with Austin Reynolds

The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football scouting journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.

Here is Austin Reynolds

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

For the first club I played for. One of my closest teammates was the son of our Director of Coaching and he had known that I was interested in coaching for a while. So at age 17 when my competitive playing days began to dwindle, I asked him if I could have some type of experience coaching with the club. I got assigned as an assistant with a U15 team for a spring and that was my first coaching role of some type. Most of it spent picking up cones and asking questions. From there I began taking my courses where I actually met my current boss, and moved to a different club shortly after which was close to my college.

What attracted you to coaching? What’s more intriguing now winning or developing players?

 

What initially attracted me to coaching was the concept of team management at the pro level, as growing up I was fascinated by Ferguson, Guardiola, Mourinho, etc. Setting up tactics and teams for important matches always caught my attention and I loved the adjustments that they would make in important games. The person that made me think I could potentially do it was AVB, who had no playing background, and I figured if he could do it, who says I couldn't?  (How arrogant of me to think that? Haha.)

My biggest thrills as a coach so far have come from big wins against very good competition, but those are extreme highs. A great day to day feeling is watching your players improve in the aspects you instruct them on. But you really cannot have one without the other, but the ecstasy of winning a huge match is hard to describe to someone who hasn't been in that situation. 

Who is the first coach/teacher that resonated with you? What stood out?

 

As a player, my first coach that resonated with me was a guy named Ben Graham who coached me at U16. He made training incredibly fun and focused on attacking play all of the time. I remember being so excited for every training session, but he only coached me for three months and I vaguely remember his activities. Afterwards, a man named Tom Durkin coached me, who was incredibly detailed, professional, and prepared, showing me how much work goes into the job if you want it done at a high level. I was blown away at the stories from his past and the detail he coached into even simple exercises. Even though I struggled playing for him, I realized what it takes to perform at top level. 

What is the biggest misconception in football? Why?

 

That football is simple. There are so many factors that are really difficult to consider even within just one player. Physical development, individual planning, their life away from football, future aspirations, the list is extensive. Now imagine dealing with 11 of those. Plus the guys that don't even play in a match. There are also so many things related to timing, moment, interactions between players/systems that take a lot of time to figure out to make your teams play great. We can try and make football simple for our players/staff so that they work with a clear mind and perform to the best of their abilities, but representing the sport as being "simple" I think is a really misleading starting point. There are simply too many aspects to consider for one person to master without supporting staff and help.

If you could start over what skill would you build on first?

I began by analyzing a lot to get a good theoretical understanding of football, player actions, and system interactions, and I would start with that again if I had to restart. I was fortunate to have good mentors early on who guided me in the right direction, encouraging me to study the top teams and understand what made them great.

Do you see player development as more of an art or a science? Which would you start with?

 

For me, it's more of a science as in the role of a coach, you are constantly manipulating the environment and constraints of your players training sessions to get a certain outcome (hopefully), similar to how a scientist sets up an experiment and methods to test if a hypothesis can be supported. Many of the other components, such as how you speak to players, management, and persuading your players to carry out the expectations is where it becomes more of an art to me. 

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

I have two professional examples. First is Manchester United's Champions League Final win in 2008, as it ignited my interest in the sport as a young kid in America. And another one is the El Clasico where Lionel Messi scored in the Bernabeu in the last minute and took of his shirt in front of the Madrid fans. That match just shows how incredible he is as a player and impossible not to marvel at. It also helped that I was watching with some girl who was a Real Madrid fan and kept chatting nonsense the whole time, it was like instant justice!

From a personal experience point of view, the first major match plan I devised work against a top team in the country was against North Carolina FC U17’s in the Development Academy playoffs, who were one of the toughest teams in the country. I had gone to another field in the complex to scout an opponent for our next match, and I showed up to the game at halftime to chat with our coaches. I asked what the score was and they told me "1-0", to which I said "How did we concede?". When I was told we were winning I was stunned, what was more stunning was watching our players dominate them with our high pressure forcing them outside, with our wingers then pressing the fullbacks, a game specific adjustment we made considering this group operated out of a midfield block most of the time. 

Watching all that footage and theory you've studied come to life is so hard to describe, particularly when it went as well as it did. The match was a thriller, and at the final whistle I remember pumping my fist to myself and seeing stars at the top of my head. That was when I realized that perhaps I can work at a pretty decent level.  

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

The coaches that inspire me most include Guardiola, Klopp, Juan Carlos Osorio, Marco Rose, and Erik Ten Hag. These coaches plus the ever increasing list of coaches finding success without notable professional playing experience (AVB, Tuchel, Jardim, Rodgers, Nagelsmann, etc.), as I dream of walking in their shoes someday. 

I am really attracted to coaches that are flexible in the tactical solutions they implement (i.e. small system adjustments, new player roles that are unconventional, or really effective patterns that are slightly tweaked to exploit a certain flaw of the opponent), but have consistent principles in how their teams play. Too much variation makes it impossible to have an identity. 

My idea of a perfect team is one that can adapt to any situation and defeat you, but also do it through having spatial control of the center, clean ball progressions, and defensively coercing their opponent into favorable traps. These coaches embody that idea best I think, with their own set of being extreme in some aspect which makes them intriguing to learn from (example: Osorio and adaptability, Klopp and pressing intensity, Guardiola and emphasis on positional attacks).

My favorite players over the years include Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos, Wesley Sneijder, Messi, Michael Bradley, Kylian Mbappe, Chicharito, Wayne Rooney, and Michael Carrick.

A quick list of really interesting teams that have caught my eye over the years: Manchester United 2007-2009, FC Barcelona 2009-2012, Brazil 2010, Mexico 2016-2018, Ajax 2018-19, AS Monaco 2017, Swansea under Michael Laudrup, Tuchel's BVB, NYCFC 2000's age group (which really had a bunch of 2001-2003 players), Shakhtar Donestk with Lucescu, and Red Bull Salzburg's U19's that Marco Rose coached.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into scouting/analytics?

If you have a certain level/league that you want to work at, analyze that and get to know it a lot. For example, if you would like to work in the Championship, get a really good knowledge of all the players and teams within it, so when you begin working and developing your methods, it is with players you are familiar with. 

I would also recommend trying to "emulate" top people within scouting/analytics that you admire (I did this with Spielverlagerung and my analyses), but also trying to find your unique approach and style within that framework too. 

Eventually you'll have your own style figured out as you continue to work over time, but developing that is never easy nor linear, as there are some days where everything clicks and others where you question everything, including if you know anything at all. 

What is your favorite app/tool to use (for work or fun)?

VLC Video Player. That program is a god send for quickly making videos and analyzing games at speed. Best video player out there. I'll also give a shout out to Inkscape for being a huge help with making graphics for Spielverlagerung and daily use.