He recalls running around when he was 6 years old in little UCLA
T-shirts and sweat suits.
That’s what the pictures in his family albums show.
He remembers shagging balls for the team at age 12 while trying
to absorb every minute of Bruin soccer possible.
That’s what he did in his spare time when his father was
an assistant coach for the UCLA men’s soccer program in
1978.
He reminisces about his playing days as a UCLA All-American and
as a player in Major League Soccer.
But, that’s all in the past. Jorge Salcedo is beginning a
new album full of memories.
This season marks Salcedo’s inaugural year as head coach
of the men’s soccer team. And it’s a position that he
has longed to hold.
“This program, this school, this team is something I care
very strongly for,” Salcedo said. “There’s a
tremendous amount of respect I have for the UCLA soccer program,
its tradition, its history and all the players that have come
through the program.”
“It was an overwhelming feeling; I was proud and happy to
get the job.”
For Salcedo, being a Bruin means much more than wearing the
Adidas gear or sporting the blue and gold.
It’s something he’s yearned for ever since he could
barely tie his own soccer shoes.
It’s moments like those that his father, Hugo, who was on
the U.S. Olympic team in 1972, and mother, Cory, keep close to
their hearts when seeing Salcedo on the sidelines.
“It’s amazing when you look back,” Hugo
Salcedo said. “We used to have a problem with Jorge staying
up so late watching games and writing down stats about UCLA sports
and everything. He loved doing that. We used to punish him for
staying up too late.”
Even though Salcedo would stay up until the wee-hours of night
jotting stats and scores down, he was always the first to wake
up.
With shoes in hand and a soccer ball, Salcedo, from a very young
age, would go to his father’s bedroom in the mornings to wake
him up, just to get a few hours of practice in.
“If I wouldn’t get up, he would keep pushing me to
until I got up,” the elder Salcedo said. “You can see
the commitment that he had even at that young of an age. I
didn’t have to push him, he wanted to go.”
But more than anything, Hugo Salcedo attributes the success that
his son has enjoyed to his mother’s hand in instilling the
importance of education.
“If anything, you have to thank his mom for pushing him to
study,” Hugo Salcedo said. “If it weren’t for
that, he wouldn’t be where he is today.”
Salcedo’s parents seem to be his biggest supporters. They
can be found at nearly every game, home or away, cheering from the
bleachers for the Bruins.
“They’ve always been supportive; they’re
parents that have provided me with everything, their care,
compassion, and that’s all you can ask from your family,
being a tremendous support system,” Salcedo said.
Just over eight months ago, Salcedo was in a period of his life
where all his family and friends played a role in supporting his
pursuit of a new vocation.
That time was more taxing on the mind than playing on the U.S.
National Team. More physically draining than any of his five years
in the Major League Soccer circuit. It took every minute of
experience that he absorbed during his three years as a UCLA
assistant coach (2001-03) while under former coaches Todd
Saldaña and Tom Fitzgerald.
That moment came when he was vying for the head coach position
after Fitzgerald departed in 2002.
During the entire interview process, Salcedo never appeared to
be the front runner. With a plethora of applicants boasting
previous head coaching experience, Salcedo had to convince the
athletic department that he had it in him to take over a
national-contending team.
The elder Salcedo at that point was skeptical at the chance that
his son was going to nab the position.
“I honestly didn’t think he was going to get
it,” Salcedo’s father said.
On Feb. 6, the players, Associate Athletic Director Ken Weiner
and Salcedo congregated into the Hall of Fame press room at the
Morgan Center.
Amid a round of applause, it became official. Salcedo was
hired.
“An immediate smile came to my face,” said senior
forward Mike Enfield, who was in attendance at the time. “A
bunch of guys had expressed how much Jorge meant to them, and
that’s why we pushed for Jorge to get the job.”
During his tenure, Fitzgerald always thought Salcedo had the
makeup of a quality coach. There was just something about
Salcedo’s personality that made it easy for him to relate to
the players.
“I said from the beginning that Jorge is the best person
for the position, and I still feel that way,” Fitzgerald
said.
Salcedo’s success would not have been without the support
from his coaches as well.
During a game in 2002 against Stanford, Fitzgerald was issued a
red card, and Salcedo wound up as the interim coach for the rest of
the match.
Quickly thrown into the fire, Salcedo never buckled. Instead,
Fitzgerald had confidence in Salcedo that he would be able to
handle the pressure.
“”˜I have all the confidence in the world in you; you
just manage and coach the team how you feel the team should be
coached, and I’m just going to sit back in the stands and
watch,'” Salcedo recalls Fitzgerald saying.
From that point on, Salcedo knew he had a knack for being a head
coach, and that ultimately translated to the response he has
received from his players.
For seniors, like Enfield, having Salcedo as a mentor and having
him experience what it was like being new to a team helped Salcedo
create a camaraderie among his players.
“He helped me more than I can describe,” Enfield
said. “He helped me realize maybe it wasn’t my time,
and my time would come.”
“He comes to practice early to help players individually,
even if they aren’t playing, just to make them better.
He’s given so much to the program.”
But the first-year jitters have ruffled Salcedo. But it’s
more self-inflicted than anything.
“I bring a lot of pressure on myself to have a successful
team, to have a lot of players to go on to the next level, and to
have players recognized as the top players in the country,”
Salcedo said. “Everyone knows that UCLA’s soccer
program should be an elite program. That’s given, and that is
a daily pressure, a weekly pressure and a seasonal
pressure.”
If there’s one thing that Salcedo’s parents have
encouraged him to practice, it’s maintaining his faith.
The elder Salcedo distinctly remembers the game where faith came
in the form of a stranger.
And it happened at the most opportune time, when Salcedo scored
the game-winning penalty shot in the 1990 NCAA Championship
game.
“I was so nervous and tense,” Hugo Salcedo said.
“But then a 9-year-old child next to me reached out and held
my hand. “˜He’s going to make it.'”
“Jorge made that goal, and then (the child) said “˜I
told you so.’ Those are the moments that you never
forget.”
While this may seem like the apex of Salcedo’s career, he
still has one lofty goal in the future ““ being the head coach
of the national team.
“Every day has to be a good day here in order to give
myself that opportunity. That’s long term, but first and
foremost, it’s to be successful here on a daily
basis.”
As the postseason nears, the Bruins find themselves coming close
to their third consecutive Pac-10 title and steady improvement
heading into the NCAAs.
He’s come a long way from just shagging balls. The critics
are now silenced.
But one thing has remained the same ““ Salcedo’s
relationship with his parents and his love for the game.
“Even right now it’s something that I cannot
digest,” Hugo Salcedo said. “To have a son coaching a
distinguished program like UCLA, you just can’t image it. I
am still totally in awe. When I see him on the sidelines, I still
don’t think it’s real.”
It’s about having faith. His family, his players and more
importantly Salcedo, all do.