Too lazy to look it up but I seem to recall four coaches in five years. One guy left for Oklahoma primarily because of facilities. McAlpine went to USC for access to local talent and also probably facilities. Won the national title there last year. The next guy also did a good job but left after one year due to family issues. Then came Shulenberger who has been doing a great job of recruiting and coaching and we finally have decent facilities.
This raises a question in my mind. Who is responsible for selecting these good coaches? The US is still behind the curve on quality coaching in soccer. I doubt that Moos was a soccer guru. Maybe he had access to someone who is. A completely uninformed and wild guess- Peter Fewing, currently HC at Seattle U and holder of a national title or more. That is the mind that I would pick if I were Wazzu's AD. Probably way off base regarding Fewing but somebody is providing damn good advice in this matter.
Also it will be interesting to see if Overland can recover from her injuries. I'll venture to say that we will be rated fairly highly in the preseason polls next year. If Overland is back to near normal, we should be off to the races.
Too lazy to look it up but I seem to recall four coaches in five years. One guy left for Oklahoma primarily because of facilities. McAlpine went to USC for access to local talent and also probably facilities. Won the national title there last year. The next guy also did a good job but left after one year due to family issues. Then came Shulenberger who has been doing a great job of recruiting and coaching and we finally have decent facilities.
This raises a question in my mind. Who is responsible for selecting these good coaches? The US is still behind the curve on quality coaching in soccer. I doubt that Moos was a soccer guru. Maybe he had access to someone who is. A completely uninformed and wild guess- Peter Fewing, currently HC at Seattle U and holder of a national title or more. That is the mind that I would pick if I were Wazzu's AD. Probably way off base regarding Fewing but somebody is providing damn good advice in this matter.
Also it will be interesting to see if Overland can recover from her injuries. I'll venture to say that we will be rated fairly highly in the preseason polls next year. If Overland is back to near normal, we should be off to the races.
I remember back to the mid 90’s and Lisa Gozley. I think she lead the Cougs to their first ever NCAA tourney spot. The sport was only added in 1989, I think?
She was the second Coug head coach (Lisa Frazier was the first) and recruited my middle daughter right before Lisa left to follow her husband back east, to pursue his business and family concerns. She was the coach for about four years.
Dan Tobias took over for her. We didn’t hear anything at all from him regarding our daughter’s recruitment. But every coach has their own connections and targets, so that was OK. My daughter went to school in So Cal, started on varsity all four years, went to the tourney three out of those four years and was team captain her senior year. So no regrets there. Got her degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, too.
Anyway, Tobias was hired away to Arizona by Livengood.
And I believe Matt Potter was the next coach? He was hired maybe about 2003?
Matt was an interesting guy. He had played in England as a youth, in Watford’s system. They were not a powerhouse by any means. Main claim to fame, aside from finally making the Premier league a few years back (for a short run), was that one of their chief supporters, and minority owners, is Elton John.
But Matt was a guy who left because he wasn’t happy with facilities,etc. Among his complaints were inadequate lights for the field and no support facilities there at lower soccer fields. I think he may have been the one who left for Oklahoma?
IIRC, Mc Alpine was the guy to follow Potter? He had a really good run for the Cougs but it wasn’t long before USC hired him away.
Then came the guy who was there only a year and left under somewhat mysterious circumstances. It was said to be “understandable family related matters” but nothing more was said, that I ever heard. Personal privacy is absolutely OK by me. I guess it’s only curiosity about such a quick departure that made me scratch my head on that one? In the end it’s none of my business, anyway.
He was replaced by the current coach, Schulenberger. He’s taken the Cougs to the tourney in two out of the three years he’s been the coach. And this years team has gone further than any other. It’s loaded with YOUNG players, so we can all hope this is only the start of a great run.
Watching a number of games over the years, I have to admit to scratching my head over some of the aspects of play these past couple of years. But you can’t argue with success.
Like I said before, great goalkeeping, real solid physical defense, and opportunistic scoring has taken some teams at the very highest levels of the sport a long, long ways for many years.
And the Cougs are proving that once again!
As for who has given advice on which coach to hire? I know there have been more than one AD since the sport was added in 1989. I believe one of the women in the ADept (maybe Saneholtz?) was given a lot of responsibility in that direction, over the years. Who did they go to, in the soccer community, for advice? Pete Fewing would be a great one to consult (he recruited my son for Seattle U and is a super nice guy, as well as a VERY sharp soccer guy) but I kinda doubt Pete has had anything to do with WSU soccer, even in an advisory role. Lots of sharp folks around, who know the game locally and nationwide, in the northwest, though. A lot of it is who you know, as it is in anything.........
Go Cougs!
