TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Roughnecks FC sat last in the USL’s Western Conference in the 2016 season, scoring the fewest goals while also conceding the most goals in the league.

New Head Coach Dave Vaudreuil, understandably, is aiming to change that as he brings a new sense of vigor and accountability to the club ahead of the new season. And for Vaudreuil, the change starts with him.

“I want to be the leader of the team, I want to set the standard,” Vaudreuil told the club’s YouTube channel on Wednesday. “I’ve been on the teams that have lost a lot of games and have had hard times, I’ve been on the teams that have done pretty well, I’ve won championships. It's a certain level of professionalism that teams in this league, they have to shoot for the highest standard possible, and I think that’s my job, to set the tone, to set the standard and lead the organization as far as the soccer aspects of it.”

Certainly, the experience Vaudreil brings from his playing and coaching career to date will bring a new impetus to the Roughnecks. From playing for Bob Bradley at Princeton, to claiming the first MLS Cup alongside current FC Cincinnati Head Coach John Harkes with D.C. United under Bruce Arena, Vaudreuil’s has gone on to apply the lessons he learned as a player to his time in the coaching ranks.

“Whether things are going well or going poorly at that time, you’ve got to have that same attitude,” said Vaudreuil said. “You’ve got to be calm, you’ve got to instill confidence in your team and in your staff, and everybody – even the people in the stands – they’ve got to know that we’re going to have ups and downs in a season, but in general we know what it takes to win. We have the right mentality and the right philosophy, and we’ll be successful if we can be very consistent, and consistently keep a high level of professionalism on the field and off the field.”

While the drop in goals scored was certainly a concern for the Roughnecks, the side notched 49 tallies in 2015 compared to only 25 last season, the most pressing need for change for Vaudreuil will be at the back. No team allowed more than the 402 shots on goal conceded by the Roughnecks over the past two seasons.

For Vaudreuil, the goal for the Roughnecks in 2017 will be to both hold greater possession and avoid careless turnovers when the side has the ball, and to win the ball back in advantageous positions when on the defensive.

“We want to be aggressive on defense and press the ball and hopefully win balls in good parts of the field that allows us to counter-attack and get to the other goal really quickly,” he said. “In the same sense, I think you’ll see really quickly that there are two or three guys that we’ve targeted who are highly-skilled players that are going to be the conductors on the field. Whether it’s the goalkeeper and how distributes, or the center back and how he initiates breaking out, or the skilled players, the central midfielders, the No. 10s, whoever it is that people are going to know are going to orchestrate the attack and who are going to have most of the ball.”

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With Vaudreuil in place, the Roughnecks’ next move will be to build a squad that can implement his vision for the new season. With Tulsa having already made numerous off-field moves – including upgrades to ONEOK Field and moving into a new training facility – the stage is set for the Roughnecks to put in a major turnaround in their third season in the USL.

“Right from when the first few announcements of who the staff is going to be, and then the first contract signings, I think it’ll be exciting and set the stage to have a dynamic, vibrant USL franchise that the city can get behind,” Vaudreuil said. “The goal is to make a bit impact in the league, in the USL, and also in the Open Cup, and compete on a national and international stage. I think it’s the perfect place to be, as we know right now there are all kinds of exciting things going on [in the USL], new teams coming in and big numbers in some of the stadiums, and we expect to have the same type of success here.”