On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Michael Maccagnano from the Arizona Christian University Flag Football Program in Glendale, Arizona. We talk about how he recruits multi-sport athletes while putting a premium on character and effort. He describes ACU’s on-campus facilities, academic support, and the scholarship opportunities available to flag football players. Lastly, we discuss his passionate coaching style and the program’s focus on faith, family, and football.
[00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Flag. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Michael at Arizona Christian. Welcome, coach. Thank you, man. Appreciate you have, having me on. Yeah, thank you for being here. How, h- how hot is it in, in Glendale today? It’s been, it’s been a warm one for sure. I think we’re, uh…
projected high is, I think, 118 today, so it’s, it’s up there. Ooh, man. Yeah. And I thought we were bad down here in Florida, but- Right. You guys got the humidity though. You know, that’s what we always say, humidity- Ah … versus dry heat, but hot is hot regardless of whatever way you look at it. Yeah, to- today’s one of those days where I’m hearing thunder and lightning, and then I look out my window and it’s bright and sunny, so you just don’t know what’s gonna happen, but- Absolutely.
Well, i- you know, we’re, we’re talking here August 27th. I’m assuming you guys, uh, are back in school, and classes have started and all that stuff. I- in terms of the recruiting process, since you guys are a spring sport- Mm-hmm … w- h- are you still recruiting? [00:01:00] Class of 26 high school kids? Because for f- whe- whether that’s people who maybe didn’t go to college or transfers or, or anything like that, or are you primarily focused on class of ’27 for the next year?
Uh, a little bit of both, to be honest with you. So, uh, we have basically a little bit of a, of a gap from day school starts, which was on Monday, up until I think it’s, uh, I think we have up until technically next week to get them enrolled into school. So, uh, you know, there’s a couple 26s that we’re trying to get in last second here, as well as some college transfers.
Um, but also on top of that, you know, we still technically recruit, um, because we are a spring sport, so because of that, we kind of have the luxury of, you know, if they don’t necessarily have to fall in, uh, during the fall, we can kind of bring them in in the spring. Um, I’m always, you know, I’m, I’m one of those coaches that are very blunt and honest in saying, “Hey, you’re, you’re a semester behind the eight ball in a way.
Um, you’re gonna come in here and compete, and, you know, there’s no guarantee of everything, of, or anything for that matter. But at the same [00:02:00] time, come in here and compete, uh, uh, you know, and, and be ready to play in spring.” So we have a couple that, you know, potentially may be doing that too, so. Okay. Well- … in terms of, you know, uh, it being a new sport, right?
You’re, you’re only one, one season under your belt. Um, it- what’s the split, I guess, of recruiting the quote-unquote traditional high schools recruit versus, say, transfers or junior college players, that way you don’t have, you know, 15 freshmen that, y- you know, every year that you’re trying to- Yeah … trying to balance everything out?
Yeah, it’s, uh, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a definite split that I would say, I, you know, I, I like to lean more towards, you know, the veterans that are coming in. Obviously, what we’re trying to do is we gotta have the freshmen that, you know, started from, you know, year one to, to understand our, our foundation, really build a foundation from ground level and, and understand the culture that we have here.
And then, you know, as they obviously progress year after year, you know, by the time they’re, you know, juniors and seniors, you know, they’re gonna be [00:03:00] well-immersed in, in as far as, you know, with what we do, how we do things, uh, as far as from a culture standpoint, but also on top of that, just kind of grooming, you know, the, the underclassmen, you know, below them as, as the years progress.
But also with that, you know, with us being a year, year-one program and, and with the, you know, expectations that we have here at ACU, uh, you know, we definitely wanna have some of the upperclassmen that, you know, that are coming in that do have some experience playing, you know, college flag football with bringing them in.
But with those, it’s not necessarily just bringing anybody and everybody in, um, just because, you know, we wanna make sure that we have someone that we are bringing in that is, you know, I guess you could say a veteran leadership, but also with that, understand the culture, understand what we’re about more than just it is having, you know, the leadership or the, the, the exper- experience in playing.
Okay. Now, one thing in talking to coaches, a lot of times you see or especially with a new sport, right, is you’re, you’re… a lot of people say, “Hey, we’re looking for athletes.” Right? Yes. Like, and, and I can train them, teach them the football [00:04:00] stuff. So are you looking at, you know, athletes from other sports at all?
Or are you just primarily looking for folks who played flag in high school or, or club or whatever? No, I look for everybody. You know, I look for anybody and everybody. Obviously, having some flag experience is great, you know, but the one thing that I’m big on especially, and I t- when I talk to all, you know, girls that are in high school right now, is really, hey, be a multi-sport athlete.
You know, being a multi-sport athlete translates so much as far as into flag, whether it’s volleyball, soccer, you know, softball, track. All those things are all things that, you know, basically translate into flag one way or another. So with that, I highly recommend and I highly encourage girls to go be those multi-sport athletes, you know.
Uh, having someone that is, is necessarily someone that maybe has only one year of experience of playing flag under their belt, just because of obviously state sanctions, things of that nature, where it’s their programs are barely up and running, so they’re not necessarily familiar with the flag game, but they’ve been playing softball their whole life or they’ve been playing [00:05:00] volleyball, basketball, something like that, it’s great because, again, those things translate over and, and as long as they have the passion, and that’s why I love coaching girls, is because of the passion and the sp- you know, the, I call them sponges, um, just because of the passion and their willingness to learn and, and, and kind of, you know, evolve the game.
Uh, so with that, you know, I’m, I’m all for being, you know, a multi-sport athlete in a way. Yeah, I love that. Um, in terms of like you mentioned, a lot, a lot of states maybe have just sanctioned it, so high school is not as- let’s just say uniform across the country, right? Um, uh, and there’s the AAU club circuit, so, like, where are you going to look at players?
Is it high school games? Is it club? Is it ID camp combine type things, or all of the above? All of the above, to be honest with you. Right. You know, um, during the, during the fall semester, it’s really obvious- in, in Arizona specifically, and in kind of in the West Coast, you know, uh, we are primarily a fall sport during high school [00:06:00] season.
Um, so with that, uh, what we do during the fall season is, you know, we have our, you know, workouts, we have our conditioning programs that we do here at ACU, but it also gives me the luxury of, of kind of going around locally and, and looking at games and, and, you know, basically, uh, you know, scouting, scouting those games.
Um, but also with that, like, uh, you know, Arizona and California are going to, you know, they’re fall sports. Uh, Vegas is a winter sport, so it kind of gives me that transition, you know, into, you know, from, from end of fall into winter season to where I can go out and, and look at some schools there, uh, look at some athletes in Vegas.
But also on top of that, you know, you have, uh, the club circuit, ’cause that’s when the club circuit really starts, is, is right in, you know, for those fall sports, uh, that’s when they start. It’s really going into winter and, and, you know, we’ll have, we’ll host some, you know, talent ID camps, uh, you know, here at ACU.
Um, but also with that, you know, regional camps as far as with what they do at the NFL flag level and all that, you know, I definitely go to those, uh, you know, college showcases that are around the, you know, around the West Coast [00:07:00] and, and kind of just, you know, pick, pick what I can and, and, you know, talk to as many athletes as I can also.
Okay. Well- A- any of those things- Mm-hmm … what is it that, that catches your eye? What are you recruiting for? What’s kind of that hierarchy of things both on and off the field? Yeah, you kind of already hit on it earlier when you said that, you know, you talk to coaches, and coaches really just talk about, you know, “Hey, I can coach you on football,” which that’s what I can do.
You know, I’ll coach football, I’ll coach X’s and O’s until, you know, until I’m blue in the face, you know? But the one thing that I look for is, is character and, and, and effort, right? You know, those are the two things that I really look for is, is how are you, you know, when things don’t go your way. You know, if you’re at a combine and you’re not running the best times or you’re not, you know, catching every ball or whatever it is, you know?
We understand, as, as college coaches and recruiters, we understand that, you know, there’s so much that goes into football to where, you know, timing, understanding, you know, velocity of, of someone that’s throwing a ball versus catching a ball, you know, all those things. So I don’t really look for dropped passes or, you know, and, and, you know, just basically say, “Okay, [00:08:00] she’s not good enough because she’s not catching a ball.”
You know, understand there’s more that goes into it. But what are you doing when things aren’t going your way? Are you still high character? Are you still, you know, having your chin up? Are you still also not only taking care of yourself and, and, you know, making sure you’re positive but, you know, keeping, ke- keeping the girls around you positive, you know?
That’s what we wanna do. Okay. Awesome. Well, in terms of the roster, is, is there an ideal number that, that you’re looking to hit each year, that, that you’re trying to get to? Yeah. I mean, uh, you know, universities all have somewhat of a set roster that, you know, that you wanna i- that you wanna have in place as far as when it comes to recruiting.
Uh, ours is typically right around 30 to 32, so we’re on the higher end, um, you know, as far as when it comes to, you know, numbers that we wanna hit. Currently, we’re at 28, so you know, we’re, we’re right there at that number. We got a couple spots and a couple roster spots that are still open, um, which we’re hoping to fill, uh, you know, if not by next week, then, you know, at the springtime.
Um, but with that, you know, that’s the one thing that, you know, [00:09:00] with us here at ACU that they’re really starting to talk about as far as for future, as well as is really kind of bumping that enrollment up, but also with bumping those rosters up we’re looking to build a, a developmental team as well. Um, so with that, you know, you’ll have your primarily travel team.
Um, and then with that you’ll also have your developmental team, which will still go out compete and whatnot, but not necessarily your travel team or your varsity team per se. Okay. Well, and, and that’s where we see a big difference, right? There’s a lot of varsity teams, a lot of bigger schools have the club teams- Right
uh, a- and that sort of thing. But, you know, the, the question people always ask is, okay, i- is, uh, is there- Athletic scholarships available for flag football at this point? I mean, and you figure you got teams like Nebraska- Mm-hmm … and then, and then you got, uh, you know, Division II, Division III, NAIA, junior college, that, that all have varying degrees.
So I guess, you know, you don’t have to give me hard numbers here, but g- just give me- Yeah, mm … an idea of what is that financial aid situation looking like, cost of attendance for, for, you know, do, [00:10:00] are there kids getting scholarships to play flag at, at ACU? Yeah, absolutely. So there is– So each individual athlete is, is essentially scholarship that, that are on roster.
So, um, but as far as the amount of, you know, what we’re able to offer, it just kind of depends on, you know, the things that we do. At ACU it’s a little bit different just because we accumulate, um, you know, we’re not able to stack scholarships here, to be honest with you. So we don’t stack in academic and athletic.
But with that, what we do is we accumulate and, and we take a look at their athletic, we take a look at their, uh, academics as well. So if they have great academics, we can kind of bolster up their offer, um, as opposed to someone that may not have that, you know. So we’re able to kind of vary, uh, as far as when it comes to your, um, overall, uh, cost of, of scholarships.
But typically, you know, they average anywhere from, you know, they wanna say right around between 40 to 45% of the tuition. Okay. All right. That’s good. All right. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Maybe some folks not familiar. Uh, you know, you- you’ve had a [00:11:00] full season under your belt, what are some things that, that you like about the school, maybe some things folks wouldn’t even know by going through the website?
Yeah. You know, uh, ACU obviously we are a, now going into our second year of competition. Um, we– I basically started the program from, from ground up. Uh, as far as when it comes to building the roster, building, you know, the everything. Um, even the, you know, the facilities, you know. So we, uh, on campus, uh, we’re located right in the middle of Phoenix, Arizona.
We’re in Glendale, but you’re considered, you know, right there on the one side of the street is Phoenix, the other side is Glendale. You know, so we’re right smack in the middle, so we have tons of obviously things to do, uh, when you do come at ACU. Uh, but also with that, you know, as far as on campus, uh, everything that you need to do as far as, uh, to, to be a great athlete at ACU is all located right here.
So all of our facilities are on campus. Our gym is on campus. Uh, we have two practice fields. Uh, we have our game field. Uh, we have our locker room. Um, pretty much everything that you need is right here on campus, you know. So, uh, that’s kind of one of the luxuries that we have here at [00:12:00] ACU that not a lot of other schools in the West Coast do have, uh, as far as when it comes to having all facilities on campus.
Have your gym, you know, have your practice facilities, have your locker room. Literally everything is right here to where you walk outside your dorm, you walk 100 yards and you’re on the field. You know, you walk another 50 yards and you’re in the locker room. You know, so everything is right there, um, which is great, especially on the West Coast, uh, which is, you know, kind of one of the things to where obviously all the programs that are building are, are, you know, building the program and building the foundation as well, but may not have the luxuries of the facilities that we have here at ACU.
Okay. Great. Well, the- One of the biggest challenges for s- new student athletes coming into college is balancing the academic demands and the athletic demands. H- how specifically are your student athletes doing that? What kind of support services does the school have in place to make sure they’re successful on both, both sides of that?
That’s a, that’s a great question, and I, I’m big when it comes to academics. I am, I am extremely big when it comes to academics, and anybody that, you know, I talk to, I, I ask them that straight up. You know, “Hey, [00:13:00] how’s your, how’s your grades? What’s going on with that?” Because, uh, you know, and, and during the recruiting process, I even talk about those things, right?
Hey, at the college level, there’s a lot of… It’s, it’s a lot different than high school to where you just go to school, practice for two hours, and then you have a whole bunch of free time, you know? Uh, how I run my program is we have lifts, we have meetings, uh, on top of meetings, and then after meetings, we have more meetings, you know, and then we have practice, you know?
So, uh, with that, it becomes a little bit of a, of, of time demanding. So, you know, understanding, you know, your understanding your time is, is very, very, you know, key in your schedule. Um, but also with that, as far as when it comes to ACU, uh, we have a lot of academic sup- support as well. Um, so we offer free tutoring, uh, here at school.
So, you know, if you do have any, you know, if you are struggling in a class or whatever it is, we have free drop-in tutoring through what they call ACE, which is Academic Center of Excellence. Uh, it’s where you can go in there, have free tutoring. Um, but also with that, uh, Dr. Greg Johannes is, uh, who, uh, he’s our director of that.
Uh, he’s also a, uh, professor on [00:14:00] campus, so he has access to all of, you know, the athletes’ grades and whatnot. So if he starts to see that, you know, some of our athletes may be struggling in a class or whatever it is, he’s gonna reach out to them personally and say, “Hey, let’s get you set up, uh, for tutoring, but also with that CC me on it too, uh, to where we can, you know, essentially have that conversation.”
Um, and then the other thing as well is that if it’s something to where, obviously during the spring schedule, it’s, it, it becomes even more time demanding because of travel and all that stuff too. Um, so with the ACE, what they’ll also do as well is that they’ll also set up Zoom, uh, Zoom, basically, meetings with our athletes.
So if they’re have a test or they, uh, have a, you know, um, an essay that they have to write and they need to go through a thesis statement, or they need to go through their final draft and proofread it before they submit it, uh, they’re able to set up that interview or s- not an interview, but able to set up that meeting with, uh, you know, with, uh, with basically a tutor over the phone while they’re traveling.
You know, to, to make sure that they get all the access, uh, and help that they need. Okay, awesome. Well, let’s [00:15:00] fast-forward, put us in the heart of that conference schedule during the season. Yeah. Walk me through what’s a typical week look like, winter classes, practices, game cadence, meals, all that kind of stuff.
Yeah. So, uh, we’re, we’re a long day. So we, we start our days at 7:00 AM, um, so we have lifts first thing in the morning. Uh, they typically have, uh, from 7:00 to 8:00. After that, they’ll start classes probably 8:30 till about, you know, 2:00, uh, give or take, obviously dependent on the day and schedule. Uh, from that, they’ll go to lunch.
After lunch, uh, I give them a little bit of time to start doing their homework, you know, get their academics, get their, you know, get their books handled and all that, um, because a lot of my, you know, coaching staff is coming from off-campus, so with that, give them the opportunity to come here and, and, you know, get ready and set up.
Uh, then we start meetings, so we typically have an hour-long team meeting. Uh, and then from that, we’ll break off into offensive and defensive meetings where we’ll probably go another hour to hour and a half. Uh, and then from that, we will pretty much hit the field. Um, so we’re big as far as wanting to hit the [00:16:00] field, uh, that we have our mental reps, right?
I- I’m big as far as getting the mental side of things and getting you mentally prepared for practice before we even hit practice. Um, so, you know, we do that, and then we hit practice for, you know, we’re a two-hour practice. We don’t really go long three-hour practices or anything like, like that because of the fact that we try and prepare you on the mental side of things beforehand.
Um, and not only that, because of the Arizona heat, you know, we don’t want them out there, you know, dying, so, uh, so with that, you know, we kind of do it that way. Uh, and then we film every practice, so what we do is at the end of every practice, uh, you know, we typically will, you know, upload film and, and, you know, kind of break down film at, at that point after practice as well.
Um, so during meals, obviously in between- Uh, they’ll have their lunch. I always strongly suggest that they, you know, I, I give them the opportunity to eat something light, you know, during our, you know, our meetings, just because of the fact that we’re gonna be, you know, on the field for a little bit. Uh, and then post-practice, uh, they, they get off the field, they have a hot meal ready for them, and then, you know, we pretty much, uh, go into team meetings at that point.
Okay. [00:17:00] Well, we talked about roster size on the player side. Let’s talk about it on the coaching side. Who all’s there to help you? What role does everybody play, uh, on the, on the football side of things? Yeah. I’m one of the, I’m one of the coaches that I’m, I’m very, very attention to detail, uh, when it comes to the little things.
Uh, I’m gonna nitpick a lot of stuff, and with that, you know, I, it- me being by myself, I couldn’t do it. You know? I just, I’ll be honest with you, I couldn’t do it. It’s a disservice to the girls at that point. Um, so with that, I actually have, uh, a, I have a total of five coaches that are on staff. Um, so I have, uh, two co-offensive coordinators, uh, Coach Whitney Warmus and Coach Sergio Ramirez.
Uh, they are perspectively within their, uh, with, with their jobs and what they do. They also are head coaches of their own high school programs. Um, so, you know, they run their own high school programs, and then they come over here and, and, you know, coach on the offensive side of the ball. Uh, I have Coach Sammy Minton, and we just brought in, uh, Coach B, uh, Ben Johnson, uh, who’s gonna be basically our co-defensive coordinator.
So we have those four, uh, that are basically as far as [00:18:00] when it comes to coaching day to day. Uh, we also have Coach Ray Black, who is, um, our assistant coach, um, who kind of, kind of helps with a lot of stuff, but she’s also more on the back end of stuff when it comes to recruiting coordinators, as well as, uh, you know, as well as when it comes to social media stuff.
Because I’ll be honest with you, um, I’m a guy, and I am not the best when it comes to that stuff, you know? So I let, I let her handle that stuff. So, uh, we do that, and then we also have, um, a graduate assistant that we’re looking to bring on, uh, to help basically when it comes to setting up, uh, you know, practices and, and film and, and all those things as well.
Okay. And you talked about it a little bit there, but talk to us a little bit more about- Your coaching style and maybe the style of play that you, that you guys are, are looking to play there. Yeah. Um, I, I’m again, very blunt and honest coach. I’m, I’m a hard coach, you know? I’m, I’m one of the ones where I’m hard.
Um, I’m, I’m Italian, so by nature I’m a loud coach. Um, you know, but one thing that I coach with is I coach with passion, energy, and love, you know? So, uh, the one thing that I do is I c- it always comes from a place of [00:19:00] love, and it always comes from a place of, I, I know you can do better, you know? Um, so it’s never, I’m never a degrading coach where I’m, you know, saying you’re, you suck or you’re horrible or anything like that, but it’s more or less like, “Hey, what are we doing?
What are we thinking here? What can we do to get you better?” You know? And, and then from that, uh, you know, what I always do is, again, I coach hard during those two hours, you know? But the one thing that we do is we pray before practice, and we pray after practice, you know? And every single girl that, that are on my field, uh, at the end of every practice, I’m gonna put my arm around them.
I’m gonna tell them I love them and I’m proud of them and, and let’s w- you know, let’s work hard and, and let’s focus on getting better. You know, my motto here at ACU is get 1% better every day, you know? As long as we’re getting 1% better every day, that’s all I can ask for you. Um, so, you know, those are things that we do.
Uh, I’m, I’m the loud, crazy one. Uh, my coaches, you know, as far as my assistant coaches, they’re kind of, you know, it’s, it’s funny because, you know, like Sergio and, and Whitney, that we talk about it all the time, like, they can kind of, they’re usually the crazy ones at their programs, you know, as far as the loud, crazy ones.
But coming here they [00:20:00] can kind of take a seat back, you know, a step back and, and really just focus on being the calm, cool, and collected one and, and allow me to be the, you know, the crazy, loud Italian guy. Awesome. Yeah. Co- Coach, I really appreciate the time. I’m gonna leave you with one last question, and that is- Yeah
if you had one piece of advice for, you know, any girl who’s out there in high school right now who’s wanting to play college flag, what would that be? Um, uh, you know, main thing that I would say to do is, is especially if you’re looking to obviously be recruited, is grades, right? Grades are the most important thing, you know?
Make sure, uh, your education is, is by far the most important thing, uh, that, that you need to do. So make sure your grades are in order. Uh, and then secondly is just effort and, and, you know, making sure that, you know, you’re a team player. You know, we, we can always look for the, the amazing athletes that are five-star athletes and, you know, the top ones, but at the end of the day, you know, how are you not only treating yourself, ’cause the one thing that I look for is how are you representing yourself, how are you representing the team, but most importantly, how are you representing your family, you know?
So those are the things that we really look for, uh, because the one thing that we preach here is faith, family, and football, and it’s in that order. [00:21:00] Awesome. Well, Coach, I really thank you for your time. Wish you the best of luck this season, and, uh, hopefully you guys will continue your, your trend upward.
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on, Matt. Really, really appreciate it. Thank you.