Welcome to Off Topic with Ben Turner. On semi-regular intervals I am going to sit down with someone associated with Union Omaha and do a deep dive into their passions outside of soccer and of course, cover a little soccer as well. Our first guest is Union Omaha defender Jake Crull, #16. We cover growing up in Austria, playing for Nate Miller in college, the role of faith in his life, Settlers of Catan, cooking, and what it has been like to play at center back for the first time in his career.

Ben Turner: Let’s start at the very beginning for you. How did you end up being born in Austria?

Jake Crull: So, both my parents moved to Austria before I was born. After they got married, they moved to Austria to do mission work there for an organization called TCM International, and they lived there for 18 years of their life and had my two brothers and I there just a few years after they moved.

BT: Nice, so that answers a couple of my next questions as well:. Do you have any siblings and were they born in Austria? So what was it like growing up in Austria?

JC: It was awesome. I liked it a lot. I think that’s one of the big reasons why I play soccer. My brothers and I often talk about if we were born here would we have played soccer because my dad played tennis, my mom played volleyball. And so there’s like this discussion- we’re born in Austria and soccer is the main sport there. That’s probably a big reason why we play it and so it was cool.

Soccer was involved at school at a very young age. So in middle school I got to play soccer for a school team, got to play club, got to play with both of my brothers, which is the blessing of being the middle child. And then, in terms of just regular day life, we went to German schools. We lived just down the road from where my dad worked, and he worked on a campus so it was a good environment for us to go hang out there with people who came in to study. We made friends at the schools that we went to; got to hang out with guys we play soccer with and the outdoors. Austria is a very good place to live, if you like the outdoors. So, my parents just allowed us to kind of roam free almost, that also made some great memories just hanging out outside. 

BT: Where exactly in Austria were you guys living?. 

JC: So, we lived just about 20 minutes outside of Vienna, which is the capital of Austria.

BT: When you were growing up, did you come to the States at all to visit?

JC: All the time actually. So all of our extended family is in America, mostly Indiana, which is where my parents were raised. And so we would come almost every summer for about a month at a time. So, very familiar with that area.

BT:I heard you did some bike touring as a kid in Austria. Tell me about that!

JC: Yeah, so that was a tradition that we had as a family was to do this bike ride every summer which was about 35 K. And it was just great because there’s a lot of variety, we would park our car at a certain location, and we’d ride along the river, go through super old towns, past mountains and stuff like that.  We’d have some good meals, and then we’d hop on a ferry boat with our bikes that would take us back up to the car. It was one of my favorite memories, great family vacation. I’m sure you would have loved it.

BT: Yeah, that sounds amazing. Did you learn how to change a flat bike tire during those trips?

JC: No, I didn’t. 

BT: Did you ski in Austria?

JC: Yeah that was big time. So I started skiing, and then switched to snowboarding at a pretty young age. And so it was great. I mean the Alps, you have the Alps there. Every winter we would do multiple trips to the mountain. A lot of times we would spend Christmas at the hotel. Yeah, great memories from that.

BT: [Pointless anecdote about the only time Ben tried snowboarding.] Sounds fantastic, any other memorable Austria stories to share?

JC: I think one of the biggest memories I have is that, at a young age, I played for the school team. It was middle school, and you look at the United States-there aren’t really school teams here at all. And so it was very different in that sense. It was cool to see the whole school support a middle school soccer team, you know. So just some of my best memories were going to tournaments with them, hosting tournaments at my school. Yeah from a young age I have really good soccer memories.

BT: That’s a high level soccer experience in middle school. So you moved here when you were 12; what was that transition like?

JC: It was tough. I mean, overall, we have family here, which helped the move a lot. We moved here not knowing anyone besides family. Me and my brothers went to English speaking schools. Now this sounds super simple but you write in print here in America and in Austria you grew up writing cursive. It sounds simple, but it’s not and so it took me like three weeks to figure out how to write print. Reading in English was something that I had to learn and get better at. I think that the hardest thing for me personally was just that school environment, you know, getting into an English schooling and trying to thrive here and do well.

BT: What grade level were you going into?

JC: Seventh grade. 

BT: That’s a tough time. My least favorite academic year was seventh grade. So where did your family end up living here in America?

JC: Carmel, Indiana. 

BT: Okay. And that’s like 20 minutes north of Indianapolis. [Tells an inaccurate bike share anecdote.]

JC: Yeah, that’s like spot on.

BT: [Unnecessary anecdote about the trip to Indianapolis that never happened]. Okay, so you’re in Carmel, Indiana. Are there any high school stories that we should cover right now? 

JC: Yeah, in high school I played my freshman year for the school team and then transitioned to play Academy, which is where I played with a guy who committed (to Spring Arbor University for college) the year before I went. He kind of recommended me to the coach who’s Nate Miller…

BT: I’ve got a bunch of Nate Miller questions.

JC: And so he brought me in for a visit, you know, talked to me. He’s really good at recruiting you know and I really liked him as a coach, obviously, and then also really liked the team culture. And so, I chose Spring Arbor for soccer. I liked the small community…

BT: So they’re a powerhouse soccer school or was that just because you were there?

JC: Yeah, I mean, overall, you know that the program has been doing really well over the past few years. And so, I think, Nate as a coach, showed me how well the program was developing as I was coming in, and how much success we could have throughout my time there.

BT: So when you played at Goshen College. Did they play the national anthem?

JC: That’s funny. Not that I remember. So it’s not something that clearly sticks out in my head like “oh my gosh they didn’t play the national anthem.” But I think after the game someone pointed out to me, “hey they didn’t play the national anthem what’s deal with that” and we played them twice and I think both times they didn’t play it.

BT: [Very long anecdote about Goshen College and the national anthem (https://www.goshen.edu/news/anthem/), and Ben’s Mennonite friends]

So we covered Nate Miller, Nate Miller personally recruited you. So, he’s had a pretty crazy rise from coaching at an NAIA school to being the lead assistant for San Diego Loyal, in the last two years. Are you guys still in touch?

JC: Yeah, we are. Not like super often, but he called me about a month ago just to talk. We text sometimes but it’s, it’s not like you know like a weekly thing, but he is a very influential person in my life.

BT: That’s awesome. What was it like playing for him?

JC: It was great. Like I said it was one of the big reasons why I went to Spring Arbor because I knew he’s a great coach. I personally believe if I went to a different college I wouldn’t have developed as much, even if it was maybe a D-I college, I don’t think I would have developed as much as a player under a different coach than I did under him. He does a great job at personal development, and that was just something I appreciate a lot: he invested into me. And then also I think he knows how to lead a team. I think it shows just with our success in Spring Arbor.

BT: Yeah absolutely. I know a few other people who’ve made similar meteoric rises in such a short period of time but you have to be exceptional to be able to make that several level jump in such a short period of time. So you played USL Two with the Charlotte Eagles, did you play any other summer leagues?

JC: No, I spent two summers down there (with Charlotte).

BT: So how did you get connected with them?

JC: So after my first year, Nate connects me with Dave Dixon who was leaving at the time. So he was never my coach down there but he connected me there. Sent in some film and they were interested in bringing me down; they brought me down for my first summer. Just was able to develop a great community down there while being a part of a very close knit family as a team. The next summer, Garrett Bireline was coming as the head coach, and he knew that I came down the summer before, and was interested in bringing me down again.

BT: My understanding is that the Charlotte Eagles are slightly different from your traditional USL Two program. You want to talk through some of those differences and let us know what makes Charlotte Eagles a unique program in USL Two?

JC: So Charlotte Eagles is a Christian based organization. They’re mission based so a lot of the people who work on staff for the Charlotte Eagles are coaches but are placed. So for example, a lot of them are placed in a refugee neighborhood down in Charlotte, where they have the opportunity to go and evangelize and spread the good news of the gospel. And then all the coaches who coach the youth teams down there, have the opportunity to pour into kids outside of the soccer field. Their goal is to develop them as soccer players, but their goal is also to share what the gospel is. 

For me, the USL Two (side) was a lot of: bringing people in to develop them. Developing them as soccer players, but then developing them as young men, and also sharing the gospel with them and that was very cool for me. You know Spring Arbor is a Christian school as well. I had the opportunity to grow in my faith, but going down there is a little bit different. I think it was more intentional. And I had a coach over me but also players around me who really wanted to grow in that, while also growing in soccer and trying to get to that next pro level.

BT: Yeah, it is a cool concept. I didn’t know much about it until I was researching either you or Joel…

JC: Joel spent some time down there.

BT: Yeah so how did you meet Joel (Delass, Union Omaha assistant coach)?

JC: Yeah, Nate connected me with him and he got to come out and watch me at the Midwest Combine in Michigan. And that was December (2019), and he was able to just watch me and he knew a lot about me just through coaching with Nate. And so that’s kind of how I knew him before we actually came out here.

BT: So there’s been a story which I’ve heard and believed, until we were setting this up, that you had done a training session with the Lansing Ignite, but that never happened?

JC: No, I don’t know where that got started, honestly.

BT: I do, but I’m not gonna name names. 

JC: Okay, maybe you could tell me after this. Yeah, I don’t know, I think at one time I was asked to join and decided not to. But yeah, I don’t know.

BT: Yeah, it is fine. You’ll be off the hook, we’re gonna set the record straight with his interview. So I’m sitting in the trailer, doing my research for player announcements and I’m like,”oh man, this is obviously a Joel Delass signing,” so it’s interesting that you guys actually hadn’t met before the combine.

JC: Yeah, he called me after Nate had made that introduction. And he wanted to bring me out for the trial [Union Omaha combine] that was happening out here. I remember that. And that was during finals week and I was like “I’m sorry I just can’t”. Like this is like the last thing in senior year you just got to get it done. I think I probably could have made it if the Midwest Combine wasn’t a thing.

BT: Yeah. Fair enough. It wasn’t your only chance.

JC: Yeah, so I was, I was just trying to be smart about that and I thought the (Midwest) Combine would be a good opportunity.

BT: Well, you’re not the only player who no-showed on that event, who’s now on the team. So you sign for the team, you show up in Omaha. On that particular day I met you and my stomach dropped when I realized all the pictures that we posted on signing day you were in the rain, and your normally very stylish hair was matted down, sloppy, and wet. So I apologized and you were very graceful about it, but did you feel like the club did you dirty by using those pictures of your wet hair?

JC: That’s funny. So the one that they used for the…

BT: You can just say my name, I picked the pictures…

JC: Okay, just for the initial posts: “This is Jake we signed him.” Yeah, I was kind of bummed, just because I wasn’t a huge fan of the picture.

BT: I’m glad to know because I was like, “I don’t believe that it didn’t bother him.”

JC: So I will say this though. You did a great job with making me look good in that picture.

BT: Okay, well, that would be Jack (Yates, Union Omaha graphic designer). I just picked the pictures and sent them on to Jack, but yeah I met you and I was like this guy doesn’t look at all like the picture we used. What have we done? 

Alright, so how have you settled into Omaha?

JC: So far so good. It has been great. The city is awesome. The team hooked us up with some amazing apartments. As you see there’s a new food court in the lobby.  Yeah, so it’s been really good. There’s really nothing to complain about, you know, COVID hit, and that’s obviously a bummer you know with a delayed season and stuff. 

But with that I think that it allowed us to spend more time together, maybe not more time together, but just a different kind of time than you actually would in season, which is great. I’ve also gotten to know some awesome people from the city from the church I go to, from in town and team connections and stuff like that and so it’s been great. It almost feels like home; I haven’t missed home a lot in Indiana. So, I really like this place and a lot of it is because of the people. I think the people make a place so yeah.

BT: Absolutely. So that answers my next question. Have you found a church in town?

JC: Yeah, it has been amazing. The church I go to is called Coram Deo. It is on Pacific Street, a little bit west of here. But it’s been great, it’s led me to have a lot of connections just here in town and get me plugged into, you know, a church and just that allows me to grow. 

I will say this: when COVID hit, you know, while taking precautions, it still allowed me to have life outside of this building. You know things to do, people to see, and just be in relationships.  I think that it’s so important and it’s hit a lot of people hard. I think not being able to see very many people or go places in a new place was tough, and it (Church) just allowed me to have another connection here in a new city.

BT: Yeah, I can’t imagine being in a building with my coworkers for 24 hours a day for three months… 

JC: Lots of (Settlers of) Catan.

BT: That’s awesome. As you said you get to build those work relationships in a way you wouldn’t otherwise, but definitely having other connections gives you that oxygen to live.

People may not know that you filmed a cooking show pilot at the start of lockdown, Cooking with Crull. We even got the league announcer to record an intro for it. For me looking at what the club missed out on during that time, it is right at the top. What started your passion for cooking?

JC: I think from a young age, my mom just made us all different kinds of meals, and it just led my curiosity on for me. I think also she kind of taught, not purposefully, the skills in the kitchen, you know. There’s also that huge reward of cooking: the fact that you get to eat it. I think just having parents and a family who values having meals together and stuff like that… it’s also a great skill to have people over you know we just create that environment, Yeah…

BT: Yeah it’s a very useful skill, I enjoy the ability I have to cook. So there’s a word for eating together that I learned recently. It’s called Commensality, I may have said it wrong, but, I’ll spell it correctly though. It’s basically the idea that eating together brings people together. [Google says: “eating and drinking at the same table is a fundamental social activity, which creates and cements relationships.”] [Another bike share anecdote]. 

So you get the reward of eating it but there’s also the reward of taking a picture of what you cooked. Did you have a cooking Instagram in college?

JC: Yes, that started towards the latter end of my college career. Three of my buddies and I started a cooking page on Instagram called “College Cooking Sensation” so go give us a follow if you haven’t checked us out yet. But we would just cook different meals, lots of desserts, and just kind of show off our skills. Actually, we started a delivery system on campus for the last semester that I was there. Just a good way to spend time.

BT: That’s a good side hustle. So no one has had the privilege of seeing the Cooking with Crull show, which I will remind everyone is filmed in its entirety right now. You made crepes.

JC: Yes.

BT: What else can you make besides crepes?

JC: So, one of my favorite things to make is schnitzel, which is the national dish of Austria. It’s a breaded pork with lemon squeezed on top, flat, very tenderized and that’s one of my favorite meals. I like tacos a lot. Stir fry, pastas, I like grilling out a lot. That’s for sure a big one just burger, brats. And it’s nice, I mean these apartments have great grills for it. So, I want to grow in the variety of cooking, I think most of the things that are decently basic, there’s some things that are kind of out there, but definitely trying to grow in that.

BT: When there were no sports on, I started watching cooking competitions a lot more. [Ben explains that he LOVES Guy’s Grocery Games (GGG) and watches Beat Bobby Flay a lot, and then talks more about Beat Bobby Flay.] So, how often do you cook?

JC: So, with what the team provides in terms of meals, I cook pretty much every dinner, I don’t eat out a ton. So, every night almost I’ll cook here at the apartments and it’ll be kind of like what I said: pasta, stir fry. You know, the variety of veggies, carbs and stuff like that. 

BT: For your cooking inspirations we kind of covered this, but who do you look to the most for inspiration?

JC: Yeah, I mean, a lot of it comes from people who are close to me, so like my mom is a big one and my grandma is a big one who inspired me to get the crepe maker. I recently made these ribs with a guy here in town, his name is JJ, and they were unbelievable. I’ll send you the recipe.

BT: Yeah, it wasn’t JJ [last name of a JJ that Ben knows] was it?

JC: It was JJ [last name of JJ that Jake knows which is actually pretty similar to the one Ben knows].

BT: I’ve met two JJ’s in my whole life and one of them lives here so I figured I’d at least ask. But tell me more about these ribs, what did you guys do?

JC: So I mean, they were unbelievable like fall-off-the-bone ribs. You throw all these spices together and you mix them up and you really just lather it on there. And then you wrap them in tin foil real tight, good tin foil, you throw them in the oven for five to six hours. Let them sit in there, bring them out, you throw them in the fridge overnight. And then the next day, you’ll bring them out to the grill and, making sure the ribs don’t fall through the grill, you just heat them up and lather it with barbecue sauce. And they’re amazing. They’re seriously some of the best ribs I’ve ever had.

BT: I like the cooling down and then heating back up. 

JC: Yeah, I’m gonna send you the recipe.

BT: Yeah, please do. Speaking of recipes you want to just give us a little taste of your crepe recipe? Specifically, your secret ingredient?

JC: So, the regular crepe recipe tells you to use normal milk. I like to use chocolate protein almond milk, which gives it more of a sweet taste and also helps with the taste of Nutella in it. And the fruit on top so it gives more of a sweet taste to that sweet crepe.

BT: Love it. I had your crepes; they were amazing. Do you have any short or long term cooking goals?

JC: I’ve actually always, always thought of opening up a food truck and traveling the country, but beyond thinking of it I haven’t done much for it.

BT: That’s fair. I feel the barrier to entry for food is lower than it’s ever been with food trucks and virtual kitchens and the like; it’s an exciting time. Anything else that fills your downtime that we should talk about before we talk soccer?

JC: I mean, I talked about (Settlers of) Catan earlier, it’s been a huge COVID thing, we’ve gotten some guys together and just played Catan.

BT: And you guys are all still friends?

JC: Yeah, we are all still friends. Yeah, it does get pretty heated sometimes. And don’t ask me about my winning record…

BT: I’m not sure I’ve ever played a game that has made me so angry at people I care about.

JC: Yup, yup, yup that is right on.

BT: Nice. I think that’s a perfect activity for you guys, it’s good, it’s social, it’s competitive…

JC: Makes you think too.

BT: Oh yeah, you’ve gotta figure out all the wood-to-sheep ratios and there’s so much going on.

BT: So just to wrap it up, I want to ask a few questions about the upcoming season. Are you naturally left footed?

JC: (Laughs) Yes. Very. 

BT: What position did you play in college?

JC: I played two years at left mid and two years at left wingback.

BT: When you were a wingback, what formation were you guys playing?

JC: Let’s say 3-4-2-1. 

BT: Okay, okay. So early in the Union Omaha preseason you’re playing left back.

JC: Yes. 

BT: Yeah, but there was a scrimmage recently [July 11th scrimmage at Papillion Landing] and you were definitely playing center back. So, first question in this center back line of questioning: have you ever played center back before?

JC: So the only center back I’ve ever played was done in Charlotte for three or four games, and it wasn’t a true center back, it was the left spot in a back three. So besides those four games I’ve never played center back. 

BT: Have you been practicing at center back?

JC: Yes, trying to think when I started….

BT :I don’t want to spill the beans on Jay’s secrets here but we all saw you at the scrimmage…

JC:  Yeah, so right before COVID hit, up in Minnesota, I played center back for 20 minutes against Minnesota United…

BT: That was the dominant victory for Union Omaha.

JC: Yeah. That was the first time he put me there. Since then he’s had me in between left and center back. More recently, he’s mostly had me at left center back.

BT: Okay. It seems to be a position of need on that roster. What have the challenges been to adapt?

JC: I’ll say this: there’s just been a lot of new things, detailed things, very small things, that I’ve had to pick up since I’ve gone into that position. Some of it has been the positioning of my body off the ball. Some of it has been bumping runners or just checking shoulders all the time, which is not like you don’t do that in other positions, but you’re in a different place on the field. Yeah, I have enjoyed it. 

BT: When was the last time you played anywhere in the middle of the field?

JC: I mean, besides here for games and in Charlotte, not since the beginning of high school. Usually I’m way…

BT: [Interrupts to claim he understands youth soccer.] I interrupted you though. Sorry.

JC: No, you’re good. I mean, it’s been a good transition. I think Jay’s helped me a lot with it, Joel’s helped me a lot with it, of just working on little things that can improve my game in that position. It’s not like I don’t enjoy it, I actually really like it.

I think I’m learning a lot in that position and think that I’m growing in that position. Just continuing to pick up little things that I can improve on every practice that will allow me to be a better player in that position. I mean you know as a soccer player it’s important to be able to play multiple positions on the field. So I’m glad that I could be left back if he needs me to be, or be a center back.

BT: Yeah. Well, as you know, right now we only have three center backs on the roster [long winded excuse to talk about the time that Didier Drogba played center back for Chelsea] so I was happy to see you out there and it seemed to make sense to me. But I wanted to get your opinion on it.

Do you have any predictions for the season ?

JC: I predict that we win it all.

BT: Nice, nice. I mean I’m just here for the championship ring myself.

JC: Yeah. I’m super pumped. It was cool to see in the preseason back in February and March how well the team was working together; how chemistry was building and every guy on the team was excited to get the season started. Unfortunately it was cut short, we were playing super well. 

BT: I remember.

JC: And so now that we’re back in it, I think everyone’s just excited for the first game this weekend, and everyone’s ready to go. I think the team is looking good. And we have a lot of guys on our team who are just really committed to doing what it takes to win games.

BT: Awesome. Do you have any personal goals for the season?

JC: Yeah, so I’ve thought about that a bit.

BT: You knew the question was coming.

JC: Yeah, so I’m always hesitant to set results-driven goals. But for me a lot of it is learning. Am I succeeding through learning? Am I taking that on to the field and implementing it? In terms of actual goals, the goal is to get a shutout every game, you know as a defender the goal is to get a shutout every game. And so, whatever we can do as defenders to do that, that’s going to be the goal.

BT: Love it, love it. Where can people find you on the internet? Or in real life if you want…

JC: You can find me on my Instagram account, @Jakecrull_11. In public, you can find me down at Turner Park slacklining.

BT: Oh, fantastic. Love it. Thank you so much Jake.

I really appreciate Jake for taking the time to sit down and talk with me for my first column for Who Gives a Hoot. Find Jake on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/jakecrull_11/