Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Marc Dos Santos is just three months into his new gig, but one thing about him is clear: he's intense.
The 41-year-old Montreal native says it's part of his DNA, and that it sometimes gets him into trouble. But he's hoping to use it to help rebuild a Whitecaps franchise that not only has a whole new coaching staff but a lot of new faces on the playing side as well.
Creating a new culture is key, in Dos Santos' mind, to avert the locker room issues that faced previous Whitecaps teams. Dos Santos is demanding passion, discipline and integrity in order to find success. So far it appears the players are buying in.
Part of that culture includes being able to communicate with every player. New faces are continuing to arrive at camp, and many of them don't speak English. Dos Santos speaks four languages himself, and in total, his staff speak seven.
"Speaking a lot of languages allows you to travel to Tunisia and be face-to-face with a player and go to South America….and the connection with a player without a translator is just different," he told CTV Vancouver down at the team's training camp in Hawaii.
"So the only player that will have a problem is Hwang (In-Beom) but I'll draw lots of pictures," Dos Santos jokes, adding he might even learn Korean in order to be able to communicate.
With the Caps missing the postseason last year, the goal for Dos Santos is to help build this team for success for years to come. He's not focused on six months down the road, rather, creating a franchise that can be dominant season after season.
