Rutgers Men's Soccer Head Coach Hot Board
Rutgers is now in the market for a new men's soccer head coach after a poor season where the team finished with a record of 4-13-1 (2-6). Here is a look at an early list of candidates who may turn out to be Rutgers' newest head coach for next season.
Alexi Lalas
Current Job: Fox Sports commentator
THE SKINNY: Where do I even start? Lalas is a Rutgers graduate and one of the best to ever put on a Rutgers uniform. He is also very pro Rutgers and is currently in the Rutgers Hall of Fame. Along with all of that, Lalas has a ton of experience working as a GM with various teams in the MLS such as the San Jose Earthquakes, New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy. The biggest downfall is Lalas has zero coaching experience. So I guess the two questions are would he leave the announcer gig and would Rutgers hire a coach with zero coaching experience?
David Masur
Current Job: St. John’s head coach
THE SKINNY: Masur played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights while in college and also went on to become an assistant coach for the program soon after. He was a two-time All-American and has went on to have one of the most successful coaching careers in NCAA men’s soccer history. He is currently ranked sixth all-time in active wins at the division-I level. The big question here is would he make the jump back to Rutgers after so much success at St. John’s?
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
1984–1987: Rutgers University (Assistant)
1987-1990: Montclair State
1991-Present: St. John's University
Mike Miller
CURRENT JOB: UCONN Associate HC
THE SKINNY: Miller was born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated from East Brunswick high school and he is very well known for his recruiting. In his 16 years of coaching, he’s recruited and produced 20 MLS draft picks (11 first-rounders). Throughout his past three assistant coaching stops at Syracuse, Duke, and now UConn, Miller has been highly recognized as one of the top assistants and recruiters throughout the entire country. The New Jersey native also has some experience working with Sporting Kansas City as a domestic scout for one of the top MLS programs before joining the Huskies. The only real down side here, again, is would Rutgers hire a guy with zero head coaching experience?
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
2004-2006: North Florida (Assistant)
2006-2010: Evansville (Assistant)
2010-2014: Syracuse (Assistant)
2014-2016: Duke (Assistant/ Recruiting Coordinator)
2016-Present: UConn (Assoc. Head Coach)
Steve Rammel
CURRENT JOB: Executive Director of Orlando City Youth Soccer
THE SKINNY: After a very good high school career, Rammel signed on with the UConn Huskies program to play college soccer. He only played two years for the Huskies and decided to transfer to Rutgers to finish out his college career. He helped to lead the Scarlet Knights to the final four in 1989 and the NCAA championship in 1990. After playing overseas, Rammel returned home to earn a Masters degree from Massachusetts where he started his coaching career as an assistant to the team. Since then he has went on to coach as an assistant for UCLA and the LA Galaxy, along with a head coaching stint at St. Mary's College of California. The only issue with him Rammel is that he doesn't have a ton of head coaching experience and he hasn't had any coaching gig since 2006.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
1994–1996: University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Assistant)
1998–2001: UCLA (Assistant)
2001–2005: St. Mary's College of California
2005-2006: Los Angeles Galaxy (Assistant)
Pedro Lopes
CURRENT JOB: Director of Coaching/Training for the Jersey Knights Soccer Club
THE SKINNY: Lopes is an interesting candidate because of his past. He is a former Rutgers soccer player and Rutgers athletics HOFer. Lopes also helped lead Rutgers to the NCAA finals in 1990, where the team ended up losing to UCLA. After his playing career, he entered the coaching world as an assistant for Rutgers and Centenary before taking over as the head coach of NJIT from 2003-2010. The biggest issue here is Lopes hasn’t coached at all since 2010, but he is now the Director of Coaching/Training for the Jersey Knights Soccer Club.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
1995: Rutgers University (Assistant)
1996: Centenary College (Assistant)
1997-2002: Rutgers University (Assistant)
2003-2010: NJIT Highlanders