Coverage of Ian Carry Press Conference

University of
Kentucky Women’s Soccer

Head Coach Ian
Carry Introductory Press Conference

Rupp Arena – Nov.
23, 2016

Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky AD, Mitch Barnhart

Opening Statement …

“I will be very, very brief other than to say that
obviously we are looking to re-energize our program and get back to where we
want to be competitively. It’s a time when we have a lot of people interested
in our program, the facilities that we have and the reputation of the
University of Kentucky and the Southeastern Conference. We took careful
consideration as to how we got to this spot and looked around and talked to
several people. At the end of the day after careful consideration, we came back
to a guy that has incredible energy and I think the ability to reenergize our
locker room and get us back competitively to where we want to be and that is
Ian Carry. So, I want to introduce the third head coach in Kentucky women’s
soccer history, Ian Carry – and his fiancé, Stephanie.”

On what change Ian
represents for the program …

I follow our teams pretty closely. You guys know I go
around event to event and watch. I think culture and energy is important. I
want to make sure we capture that for our young people and in today’s world of
college athletics a victory for some people is just getting a scholarship and
joining a university and saying I’m done. I think it’s really incumbent on us
to say that that’s not enough. It’s not enough to just show up and exist for
four years. I want people involved from a staff perspective and a coaching
perspective as well. We have known Ian – we’ve had an opportunity to see him up
close and we’ve had a chance to see his interactions with our young people and
I felt comfortable after talking with several folks. We also talked to several
people within the program that had some wonderful things to say and so that
certainly weighs in your mind.

Head Coach Ian Carry

“First of all, thank you to everyone for coming out
today. As Chris mentioned, I am the third head coach in Kentucky women’s soccer
history and absolutely blessed to have that opportunity to facilitate these
young women within the soccer program. Some people that have been very
influential in this process, and I need to thank them – obviously one of them
is Mitch Barnhart. Stephanie Simmons is another and obviously Dr. Capilouto. I
wouldn’t be in this positon here today without them. Going through the process,
I’ve had a lot of time to think. I spoke to a lot of mentors overseas and here
in the U.S. This whole situation made me realize that Kentucky is the place I
want to be. I call it home. The wealth that this program has and the ability we
have to be successful – I’m absolutely blessed to be the head women’s soccer
coach. I just want to go back to 2013 when I first arrived. Obviously I’m green
behind the ears (referring to his Irish descent) and there was a function over
at the Boone Center and Mitch was there, and I think I was only working here
about a month and a half. He sees me and he says ‘Hey, big guy. We look after
you here at Kentucky. We’ll help you with your growth, we’ll guide you, we’ll
create a pathway for you and we’ll support you to prepare you for the next
step.’ That has been etched in my mind since 2013. To have that opportunity
etched in my mind since 2013 and to continue on with the next chapter of my
life and take this women’s soccer program forward means a deal to me. I’m so
grateful. That’s a memory that’s always been in my mind.

I also want to thank Jon Lipsitz. He’s was instrumental
to bringing me to Kentucky in 2013. I’ll be forever grateful to him for the
opportunity to come here and be a part of the women’s soccer program. To
continue building the program and moving on to heights that we have never been
before – that’s our goal for progressing things into the next chapter.

Someone else who has also been great is Jason Cummins.
This guy has been a mentor to me and when you talk about leadership with him –
it’s fantastic. In my interview process, I mentioned the movie Limitless. I don’t know if you know –
but the guy takes a pill and it opens up every aspect of his brain that he’s
never used before. That’s what it’s like sitting down with Jason Cummins. He
just opens up your mind and your immediate thoughts and he is able to put them
on paper. He has been fantastic.

My family – I wouldn’t be here without them. My family
back home in Ireland, my mom and dad, my younger brother. We were raised to
take nothing for granted. Work for what you achieved. Things aren’t going to be
handed to you on a silver plate – so you need to work for what you get. They
brought me up with character and integrity and I love them to bits. I know that
they are proud that I was given this opportunity. And, obviously, Steph (his
fiancé). She has been a rock in this process. She has heard me say so many
things. Yesterday I woke up and it was about 5 a.m. and I’m like ‘Hey, are you
awake?’ and she said ‘Get to sleep’. I’m like ‘I can’t sleep! I’m so excited! I
know it’s going to be released today!’ so I end up in the gym at 5:15 get a
workout in and then I come back home and said I need to go to the office. So, I
go in the office and I met up with Jason Goodson, Mitch and Steph and we went
through the whole process. Things like this make Kentucky a family that I’m so,
so proud to be a part of.

Former players – these guys who have gone through the
program have built a foundation. But not only have they created a foundation –
but they have created a dream. Players have come to Kentucky with aspirations
of being a professional soccer player and we have made that happen. I can name
Arin Gilliland and Courtney Raetzman. Those are two so far that have taken the
next step towards being professional soccer players and to have been part of
their lives over the last three of four years has been a really, really proud
moment to me. The future is bright. Young women who are searching for
universities to attend and looking at soccer programs who are going to help
them reach that next level. They know that it can be achieved here at Kentucky.

Current players – I don’t know where to begin with this
group. Their patience throughout the whole process has been fantastic. Their
dedication and hard work has been amazing. They knew their future began on the
seventh of November when Jason Goodson and myself walked on to the practice
field and it was the first practice session we had overseeing the program and
we spoke to them about the great championship environment that we wanted to
create here at Kentucky. We spoke to them about what they can achieve. We spoke
to them about bringing championships back here and making long runs in the
NCAA. But, we also spoke to them about developing them. Developing them
physically and mentally so that with any adversity here at the university or in
their home life – we have guidance to make them successful.

We want them to be successful on and off the field.
Winning trophies on the soccer field will bring them degrees in the classroom.
The buzz they had on the soccer field was fantastic and I’m honored to take
ownership of this position and these young women.

The immediate staff – I wouldn’t be here without them.
Jason Goodson – he is one of the best recruiters in the nation. He’s a gifted
coach and someone who I call a really close friend. We spend so much time
together that some of the conversation in the room are so in depth with soccer,
but we enjoy being around each other and we actually leave tomorrow to go to
San Diego to go and recruit. So that’s another weekend we have to spend with
each other. We are currently working on a second assistant, so we are finalizing
our staff and we will have that done very shortly. There are three other people
who are integral pieces to our program and one of them is Jeanne Rankin, our
strength coach. Monica Fowler, who works with the players in regards to their
nutrition – and Mike Haley. Mike is such a huge guy in regard to the academic
piece and a second father figure to most of these young women. He is someone
that helps in every aspect of life. We want to develop the complete
student-athlete here at the University of Kentucky. We don’t want them just to
be successful on the playing field – we want them to be successful in the
classroom. All of those people are part of that.

One person I also want to mention is Chris Shoals who is
standing over to my right. Chris and I go back to when I got here and has been
fantastic in our media department. He’s the guy who makes you all aware of what
goes on in the program and everything having to do with results, fixtures, you
name it. The guy is an absolute genius at what he does. Our relationship took
off when we started rooming together in 2014. Chris has an addition to candy
and soda. And the first morning of waking up after rooming with him on the road
– I fall asleep at about 11 p.m. and Chris is up all night watching SportsCenter.
I wake up, I go to get up and I roll by ankle on an empty bottle of soda. I’m
like where did that come from?! Then I look on the floor and there are three
empty bottles of Skittles and Starbursts – you name it. Chris Shoals had gotten
up at three o’clock in the morning, went down to the vending machine and had
just cleared it. And everything was just lined up on our bedroom floor. So, I’m
just like ‘really, Chris?’. If you’re looking for candy – you know the guy.
It’s Chris Shoals. The last 24 hours have been crazy and he’s been such a great
help with everything that has gone on.

I just want to give you an insight as to what has gone on
the last 24 hours. It has been nuts. Everybody has been in contact. The support
has been fantastic and I really, really appreciate it coming from players –
coming from ex-players – from families and coaches. It has been fantastic. They
know that we are a staff that is in place right now where we are going to take
the program forward.

I just want to mention one e-mail I got. Yesterday I got
an e-mail from Warren Lipka, the first head coach here. I got to know Warren
over the last three years organizing spring games, etc. We would be friendly in
that regard, but I got an e-mail yesterday from him and he congratulated me on
the hire. He wished the program the best and that he thought the program was in
good hands. But, he did mention that he was the last coach to win an SEC
Tournament when he was here in 2006. That sort of thinking and again going back
to the amount of people that have contacted me – it brings me back to November
the 7^th. We decided that this was the direction that we wanted to
go. This is what we wanted for these young women. This is how successful we can
be. We know success is standing right here on this practice field.

We have fantastic people here in Wendell & Vickie
Bell. We have an amazing facility and a new practice facility on the way for
the fall. We want to make The Bell a fortress so that when people come here to
Kentucky they know they are not getting out of here with a win. They know they
are up for a fight. That’s the attitude we will take over from November the 7^th.
Nobody is going to come into our home and think they will walk out of here with
three points. Nobody is going to think that’s it’s a game that it should be an
easy three points. That’s not the way it will be going forward. We are going to
compete in the Southeastern Conference for championships. We are going to go a
long way in the NCAA’s – and our vision is to bring home a national
championship here to the Bluegrass.

I want to again thank Mitch Barnhart for the opportunity,
I want to thank the staff we have in place and I’m really looking forward to
taking the program forward.”

On how hard it will
be to re-energize the locker room …

“When people talk about my positive attitude – knowing
the talent and the depth that we have here – it’s pretty to re-energize this
group. They are hungry. They want to be successful. The group that we have are
used to winning national championships at the club level, so they are used to
winning. That’s what they expect. I think that I’ll find the re-energizment
piece very, very easy. I am used to speaking to them in a way that they are
comfortable with and we will do anything for them as a staff. We are not going
to have a problem in that regard. The texts, e-mails from the players have
already been overwhelming to myself and Jason. They were as overwhelmed as we
were. Their words were emoji, emoji, emoji, emoji and they blew up our phones.
That is not going to be a problem.”

On moving from an
assistant coach to a head coach …

“I think I’m in a unique position. Being here three and a
half years, I have created a relationship with the players to where they can
trust me. With that trust again, comes the easy piece of re-energizing them and
the working piece of working hard in practice and competing. If I was somebody
who was coming in from outside the program, I would probably find it more of a
challenge because all of the sudden, I’m having to get to know the players.
What we said to them on day one is that sometimes when players to through the
club process and we are recruiting them, they are developing all of the time.
And, when they arrive because the soccer season is so short – they don’t
continue to develop – they only continue to practice and play. So, when we
spoke to them, we spoke to them about how every single individual needs to get
better and we need to develop. Sitting down with Jason Goodson, we have a plan
in place going forward for every single player. It will be implemented in
practice every day. Going from good cop to bad cop – there is no need to be a
bad cop because they know and trust the staff. We are looking after them and
they know that if they follow the path that we put in front of them, they will
be very successful.”