Bearden’s Ryan Radcliffe provides coaching to a Bulldog in a TSSAA District 2-AAA boys soccer match in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday, April 26, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
Ryan Radcliffe didn’t need any tutorials about Bearden soccer tradition when he was hired as the boys and girls coach in 2014-15.
Radcliffe learned all about it while playing for former coach Eric Turner.
He played for Turner on the 2006 team that won the Class AAA state championship, was on the state runner-up team as a senior in 2007, and played four years at Maryville College, where he was then hired as an assistant coach.
When Turner retired after the 2014 boys’ season, Radcliffe got the job and welcomed the challenges and expectations. Turner won more than 500 games and claimed five state titles in 18 years coaching the Bearden boys and girls.
“A lot of these players, boys and girls, come to Bearden because they want a chance to win a state championship,” Radcliffe said. “They know we do things a little bit differently than other teams and they really buy into it. That was set long ago when I played for Turner, and it’s a tradition I take pride in carrying over.”
Radcliffe, the 2019 5Star Preps coach of the year, claimed his second state title as Bearden’s coach this spring, leading the Bulldogs (21-3) to the Class AAA championship – four years after winning the 2016 boys title.
This year’s run to state was much anticipated, perhaps even expected, due to seven returning starters from the 2018 state semifinal team.
With 10 seniors on this year’s roster – including eight starters – Radcliffe had to manage a talented roster and higher-than-ever expectations.
“Honestly it was kind of tough,” Radcliffe said. “It can be very easy with a group like that to start developing a lot of egos. I think it took a long time for us this season to kind of settle into each other’s roles on the team. That was the main challenge for me this year, and a lot of preaching points in practice were for us to find our identity as a group and for each individual to find his role on the team.”
Bearden’s title run in 2019 was memorable for its challenging nature.
The Bulldogs were upset by Science Hill in Johnson City, 1-0, in the Region 1-AAA championship match, giving them a rematch with rival Farragut in the sectional round for a state bid.
Bearden, which had a 3-2 home loss to Farragut on April 26, avenged it with a 2-0 victory on the Admirals’ field in the sectional.
“I think the boys felt like it was a state championship game,” Radcliffe said of the Farragut game. “I felt like it was too. I think I had a little bit more relief getting through that game versus getting through the Brentwood or the Station Camp games (at state) just because it’s hard having to compete against your friends, people you’ve grown up with, in that atmosphere of an elimination game, and ultimately in a game that means so much.”
Radcliffe’s team still had lots of work to do at state.
After a 4-0 win over Murfreesboro Oakland in the quarterfinals, the Bulldogs handed Brentwood (18-1-1) its first loss of the season when senior Collin Lewis scored the lone goal late in the second overtime.
“I thought the Brentwood game would be a nail biter from start to finish and it was,” Radcliffe said. “I told the boys, ‘If you can get through this, you can get through a state championship game.’ ”
They did in the state final against Station Camp – but only after a 1-1 tie in regulation, scoreless overtimes, and a 4-3 win in a PK shootout.
“I think (the players) were very battle tested and ultimately they hung together,” Radcliffe said, “and during that playoff run they finally figured out what it means to come together as a group and play for each other.”
With Lewis and other top-flight seniors having graduated, Radcliffe will have spots to fill on his 2020 boys team.
There won’t be any change of expectations. Radcliffe wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The best part about coaching at Bearden is I’m blessed and I’m lucky and thankful that I work with great people and I work with great families,” he said. “When you have great families, you have great kids, and for the most part they come into Bearden and they know the expectations are set there. That’s the fun part of it, every year is a new year, and it’s special to be a part of it.”