One-on-One with Joe Russell

Joe Russell took over as head coach at George Mason in July of 2011 after 17 seasons as an assistant coach at Minnesota. In his first season as head coach at George Mason, Russell led the Patriots to six more wins than the previous season, and sent two wrestlers to the NCAAs in St. Louis.

InterMat caught up with Russell and talked to him about the season, his team, vision for the George Mason wrestling program, and much more.

Joe Russell

Did you attend the recent UFC event held at George Mason?

Russell: I did. It's actually right across the street from my office, so it was pretty convenient. With Marcus LeVesseur getting a last-minute call to fight, he was able to get Tommy Owen and me tickets to go watch him.

Are you a fan of MMA?

Russell: No, I'm not a big fan. I'm happy the wrestlers are making good money. I like that. It's just a little rough for me.

What was the biggest eye-opener for you going from Minnesota to George Mason?

Russell: I would say kind of going from the haves to the have-nots. Things that I would get frustrated about at Minnesota I would give anything to have now. There was a little bigger budget, more options with scholarships, and more emphasis on the wrestling program. Here it's different in those regards.

Do you still stay in touch with some of the coaches and wrestlers at Minnesota?

Russell: Yeah. I was at Minnesota most of my life, so it's definitely home to me. I love those guys. I was happy to see their success this year and sad they came up short. But I definitely miss those guys a lot.

You took over a team that was 0-21 in dual meets and won six dual meets in your first season. I know you have high expectations, but are you where you thought you would be after Year 1?

Russell: In Year 1 I just wanted to understand the needs of the program and what we needed to do to move it forward. There were simple, obvious decisions. But for the most part I wanted to figure things out here and make sure we're headed in the right direction. Right now we have a long, long ways to go, but I definitely feel like we're making progress, just trying to change the attitude and culture a little bit of the guys on the team, and expectations of the program from people outside ... That stuff is going to take time, but I think it's important. My big thing is trying to build something that can stand the test of time. I'm thinking more long term with a lot of decisions, not trying to do the expedient thing, but trying to think what will help us build stability here.

What are some of the obstacles you face with building the program at George Mason?

Joe Russell (Photo/George Mason Sports Information)

Russell: There are a lot of obstacles. Scholarships are obviously a big one. Budget for the program is another one. It's hard without the financial aspects. Little things. Needing a proper-sized wrestling room. Our wrestling is pretty small. We had 12 guys returning, but I had 18 new guys on the team because I wanted to build the numbers up. I thought that would be important. You have to run two practices when you have 30 guys on the team because the room is not big enough. Those little obstacles that you take for granted or don't think about when you come in. Also, just trying to get people to understand what it takes to be a successful Division I program, or what it takes to be a successful Division I wrestler.

You had two NCAA qualifiers this past season. One of those NCAA qualifiers, Vince Rodriguez, has three more seasons of eligibility. What is he capable of accomplishing?

Russell: Vince is really good. I was excited when I got here and saw him on the team. He was a national qualifier as a true freshman, which is never an easy thing to do. He was a guy who was sacrificing a lot as far as cutting a lot of weight to be a 125-pounder this past season. He's got a huge upside. He's a guy I'm definitely excited to have three more years with here.

You mentioned that he was cutting a lot of weight. Do you expect that he will move up in weight?

Russell: Yeah. He'll need to move up. He got to school and we were able to get him certified at 125 and then he kept growing. I was like, 'Well, sorry, Vince, you're going to have to make it to March.' You could see in some of his competitions that it was affecting him. We're trying to put some good size on him and see where he ends up. But he will definitely need to move up.

It has been 17 years since George Mason had had an NCAA All-American. How important is it for your program to get wrestlers on the NCAA podium in March?

Joe Russell (Photo/George Mason Sports Information)

Russell: When you have an-American it gives you a lot of visibility and let's people know, 'Yeah, I can get the job done at George Mason.' When I was at Minnesota I would call somebody and they would know a lot about the program. When I first started recruiting here I'd call people and the first thing was, 'What division are you? And where are you located?' So it was kind of a different thing. I definitely want to be calling people and they know we're a Division I program in the CAA Conference. I think when you get an All-American that really helps you with your national notoriety. That's something we're definitely trying to change. When you have All-Americans in the room it gives guys a good model to follow.

What's the wrestling culture like in Virginia?

Russell: There are some great people in this Northern Virginia area that are fired up about wrestling and doing great things, and that's exciting to see. I've been to a bunch of schools that I hadn't been to before ... I had never been to the Naval Academy, and we wrestled there last year. Bloomsburg, I had never been on their campus. So things like that have been fun for me. But there are some really fired up high school coaches in Northern Virginia.

Last fall you added Tommy Owen, one of your former wrestlers, to your staff. What has he brought to the program?

Tommy Owen

Russell: I knew that Tommy would be a really good fit for me just personality-wise and with his experiences. He's done a great job with the team. He has been leading our recruiting, and he's been leading a lot of training and practices. He grew up on a wrestling mat. His dad was the head coach at North Idaho when they won a lot of junior college national titles. He saw that you could be successful in a program with not a huge budget. They're fairly isolated out there and did great things ... and I think he had a great example in his father. I thought he would be a good fit for this type of program.

Another CAA program, Binghamton, finished 14th at the NCAAs this past season, but then lost its head coach when Pat Popolizio resigned to accept a position at North Carolina State. Were you surprised that Popolozio left Binghamton?

Russell: Well, I really don't know his situation out there, but it's pretty amazing what he had done. Pat was a godsend for me coming to the CAA Conference not knowing people. I had to call him a lot for simple things like 'How does this work in the CAA?' to bigger questions like 'With this type of program, what do you need to do?' He was a wealth of knowledge for me, and he was doing great things at Binghamton. So in that respect it's hard to see him leave. Without knowing, my assumption is that he saw increased odds for better success at North Carolina State ... I don't know if it was better resources or whatnot. It's good for wrestling that he's still in it and moving up. And then with Bighamton getting Dernlan, you know he's going to do a great job. I think Binghamton is in a good place.

You are putting together a strong recruiting class that includes a mix of high school talent and college transfers ...

Russell: Yeah, we want to be a place where people are attracted to looking at, whether it's coming out of high school or if they don't have a fit that works for them at the college they're at. We definitely want to be a program that attracts guys that want to get their degree and guys that want to put forth their best effort and have a great attitude. Those are the kind of guys we need. If we get them here, it will really help this program excel. So we're looking for any guys who fit that mold.

One of your recruits is Matt Meadows, a nationally ranked 220-pounder. What do you like about him?

Matt Meadows

Russell: Meeting with Matt and getting to know him a little bit, I was just really impressed with him as a person. He has a great family too. Watching him wrestle, you can see he moves real well and competes well. Calling around to get some background information on him, the only thing people told me was what a great kid he is. We were really excited that he has decided to join us. He has big goals and he's a hard worker. I think you put those two things together and you're going to have some good things that will happen.

I know you're a strong proponent of freestyle wrestling. Will any of the George Mason wrestlers be competing at University Nationals in a couple weeks?

Russell: Yeah, we'll be taking a bunch of guys to University Nationals. That's something we're trying to do more of here ... Letting them know what it takes to be successful at the Division I level, and that's training year-round and getting in competitions whenever you can. You'll be seeing George Mason wrestlers at USA Wrestling events in the spring and summer.

I see that you're running a couple wrestling camps this summer. What are the Georg Mason wrestling camps all about?

Russell: The big things we're trying to do with the camps is just let people know about George Mason and get people on campus and offer an opportunity for people to have a good camp experience, close to Washington D.C. and on a beautiful campus. So we're trying to get things started here. Hopefully it's something we do well and people benefit from.

What's your vision for George Mason wrestling?

Russell: The big thing is trying to think long term and what's going to make George Mason a stable program. It's a great school, a great area of the country to be in. I think there is something special that can be built here.

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