"Do your homework, look behind the curtain before you commit. He is great during the recruitment process, charming and full of promises but will flip on a dime! My son and our family could write a book on the experience but suffice to say a player that played for an elite nationally top ranked club team, was coached and also individually trained by the best of the best (at there own request and recruitment ) where all speechless and beyond confused over the experience he had at Nova under Carlins leadership. He took a gifted athlete ; who had multiple teammates that would say themselves where far less skilled than he was but that went on to play for National teams and Pro teams. He systematically broke him to suit his own agenda. Carlin is not a strategic coach but he is skilled at achieving his desired outcome off the field. He played soccer since he was four years old and after Carlin and his shady tactics he has not put on a pair of cleats since. He never had intentions to play after college even though he was offered a Pro job prior to attending college. He could however have at lease maintained a love of the game and given the multitude of coaches and trainers from his teams/clubs, as well as opposing teams that would approach us to comment on his ability to read the game. If nothing else he could have taken that gift and passed it on via coaching or training. I will say parents watch the team(s) play of any schools you are considering, style of play is important to see if the fit may or may not work. I also recommend getting all correspondence in the form of a letter or email as he also had a habit of making convenient phone calls to answer direct questions rather than putting in on paper. I hope this helps someone else! "

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"Coach Carlin is a very passionate guy. He cares a lot about the team but is convinced his tactics are the right tactics even when it doesn't fit the players on the team. He does play favorites. Forces you to conform to him rather than adapting the skills of the players that come in each year. Overall, nice guy not the best soccer coach."

"Tom Carlin does a good job. He is a great motivator and cares about his players."

"I think everyone on the soccer team would agree that Carlin is not a good coach. His soccer knowledge is sub-bar and he has so much talent at his disposal and instead of uniting the group and getting the most out of his players he does the exact opposite. He does not know how to man-manage and thus he can't create strong relationships with his players and in return doesn't get the best out of his team or his players."

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"Had some shady moments over my first two years, but overall turned out to be a good guy. I was a four-year starter so maybe that influences my opinion but I still communicate with him even two years after graduating. Definitely wish he knew a little bit more about the sport and knew more higher level coaches."

"Not the best coach tactically, he was good at motivation and helping you grow up as a person. Definitely helped me mature throughout my career but I didn't get the best coaching technically/tactically. Plenty of my other friends in college had coaches that were a lot worse some had better. Overall he's a decent fit for the program."

"Had some shady moments over my first two years, but overall turned out to be a good guy. I was a four-year starter so maybe that influences my opinion but I still communicate with him even two years after graduating. Definitely wish he knew a little bit more about the sport and knew more higher level coaches."

"- this was not the coach who recruited me but I imagine he is upfront and honest"

"Not the best coach tactically, he was good at motivation and helping you grow up as a person. Definitely helped me mature throughout my career but I didn't get the best coaching technically/tactically. Plenty of my other friends in college had coaches that were a lot worse some had better. Overall he's a decent fit for the program."

"I think everyone on the soccer team would agree that Carlin is not a good coach. His soccer knowledge is sub-bar and he has so much talent at his disposal and instead of uniting the group and getting the most out of his players he does the exact opposite. He does not know how to man-manage and thus he can't create strong relationships with his players and in return doesn't get the best out of his team or his players."

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"I think everyone on the soccer team would agree that Carlin is not a good coach. His soccer knowledge is sub-bar and he has so much talent at his disposal and instead of uniting the group and getting the most out of his players he does the exact opposite. He does not know how to man-manage and thus he can't create strong relationships with his players and in return doesn't get the best out of his team or his players."

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"Had some shady moments over my first two years, but overall turned out to be a good guy. I was a four-year starter so maybe that influences my opinion but I still communicate with him even two years after graduating. Definitely wish he knew a little bit more about the sport and knew more higher level coaches."

"Not the best coach tactically, he was good at motivation and helping you grow up as a person. Definitely helped me mature throughout my career but I didn't get the best coaching technically/tactically. Plenty of my other friends in college had coaches that were a lot worse some had better. Overall he's a decent fit for the program."