BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
 
It's a delicate process that can take years to evolve, so it's noteworthy that Neil Jones has already seen it just 16 months into his tenure as Wisconsin men's soccer coach.
 
When players can be heard preaching the same message from the same motivational pulpit as the coaches, that's a big deal. It means the student-athletes have bought in to the operation. It means the same values are shared. It generally means everyone is on the same page.
 
To that end, Jones said he devoted a lot of time during his debut season in 2022 talking about a standard for performance and creating an environment for success.
 
"Players know that they're going to come here, get a great education, they're going to work hard every day and we're also going to enjoy ourselves while we do it," he said. "Those two ideologies – working hard and having fun – don't have to be things that can't co-exist."
 
A season after debuting with a 6-6-4 overall record, including 3-4-1 mark in the Big Ten Conference, Jones said a noticeable change in his players is how they appear to be taking ownership of all things Badgers.
 
"One thing that's really changed from a year ago to now is that it's not us as coaches that are necessarily pushing that message all the time. It's the returning players," Jones said. "They know what our standards are and what our philosophies are and how we're going to operate. They're becoming extensions of the coaching staff."
 
That's remarkable in its own right, but even more impressive when you count the 14 newcomers, including eight freshmen, on the 27-man roster.
 
Of course, it helps when that growth pays dividends. Wisconsin opened the season with consecutive shutout victories over Purdue Fort Wayne and Drake at the McClimon Track and Soccer Complex, marking the first time since 2011 that UW has opened a season 2-0.
 
After a goal by sophomore forward Mitchell Dryden, from Whitefish Bay, held up for a 1-0 win in the opener Aug. 24, senior midfielder Maxwell Keenan, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and junior forward Kevin Andrews, from Minneapolis, paved the way to a 2-0 triumph Sunday. Nate Crockford, a junior transfer from UCLA by way of Northfield, Illinois, handled both matches in net.
 
"Being able to get the team together, bond, understand who we are and being able to go out and execute what we need to do is definitely a big challenge, but it's something we strive for," said midfielder Tim Bielic, a graduate student from Arlington Heights, Illinois.
 
"The camaraderie we have right now is definitely a big difference compared to my first two years," said forward Jack Finnegan, a senior from Hometown, Illinois. "Definitely a different feel this last year-and-a-half."
 
When Jones starred at UC-Santa Barbara from 2001 to '04 – he accounted for 28 goals and 72 career points and helped guide the Gauchos to the NCAA title match as a senior – he was known for his intense work ethic and cerebral approach to the game.
 
"Blue collar for sure," he said. "I think I was a fairly technical player, more of a tactical thinker of the game. I wasn't a great athlete, so I had to think my way through situations.
 
"I was intense. I always demanded intensity from myself and the players around me because I always wanted to win. I demanded excellence out of myself and my teammates at all times."
 
That desire rages today, but with different mechanics.
 
"I want to win here, not for myself, but for these guys here because I want to see the joy on their faces as we lift a Big Ten trophy or I want to be in the room with them when our name comes up as part of the NCAA tournament field," Jones said. "I've been there. I know what it feels like and I want that for them more than anything."
 
Bielic was asked if the current team has a specific personality. It sounded familiar.
 
"We're definitely a team of high energy, very disciplined, very motivated, very driven," he said.
 
"We have more of a personality than any of the four years I've been here," Finnegan said. "We're growing into our identity more. It's a team that has its values straight. We know what we want to do defensively. We know how we want to play offensively. It's a group that's coming together and definitely solidifying its identity in the Big Ten."
 
Jones said the personality of his team is a work in progress.
 
"I think it's emerging," he said. "I don't know that it's fully there yet. It takes time with so many new players.
 
"But I think we're hard working. We're intense. I know we want to win."
 
Jones said the latest roster additions have had the desired impact. He has more options off the bench and greater competition for playing time.
 
"Our coaching staff really made it clear, instilling in us quickly, that we know what we are and who we are and what we need to do," Bielic said.
 
"I like the drive this team brings. We're all here to win. We all know our goals."
 
Asked what he likes most about the team, Finnegan said the bond he and his teammates have formed will be a factor in how far the Badgers will go this season.
 
"Definitely how good of friends everybody is on the team," he said. "We have great soccer players, but I think the thing that's going to carry us is how close we are off the field."
 
A task made easier because everyone is on the same page.