Duke Law to WVU Soccer
September 23, 2003 11:14 AM | General
September 23, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Excuse Mike Seabolt for feeling a little passionate about soccer.
After all, Seabolt gave up a promising career as a corporate litigator to coach college soccer. He possesses a law degree from Duke University.
“After law school I had an opportunity to coach professional soccer for about $5,000 as a part-time assistant,” Seabolt explained. “I told the coach, ‘Whatever you offer me it’s more than a $100,000 pay cut so it doesn’t matter.’”
Seabolt’s love for the game began while growing up in Atlanta and continued when he went to Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, to play soccer.
Seabolt’s involvement with soccer resumed while at Duke, playing and coaching the school’s club team while studying law. It was during his time there that Seabolt realized that coaching soccer was his calling. So when the call came to help coach a professional soccer team he jumped at the opportunity.
Understandably his family was concerned, “Yes, they asked some questions,” Seabolt laughed.
Since 1999, Seabolt’s rapid advancement has helped ease their worries.
He spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Elon before arriving at the University of Tampa to join Keith Fulk’s coaching staff in 2000. Their second season working together in 2001, the duo helped lead Tampa to the Division II national title. Seabolt was involved in scheduling, team training and match preparations while helping the Spartans to an impressive two-year record of 33-4-2.
In the off-seasons Seabolt was also involved with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, where his primary role was scouting and drafting players for the organization.
Fulk’s success at Tampa led him to West Virginia University, where he took over the Mountaineer program after the resignation of Paul Marco. Seabolt joined Fulk at WVU as his top assistant coach.
Unlike Tampa where they enjoyed immediate success, the West Virginia job entailed a substantial rebuilding job.
“It was a challenge,” Seabolt admitted. “The old situation was over, here is the new situation and we’ve got to move forward. With recruiting, with the players we brought in, with the way we treated the players that were still here, it was all about moving forward.”
Moving forward also meant eliminating those who didn’t buy into their new philosophy. By the end of last year just a handful of players from the Marco years were left, and West Virginia turned in a disappointing 4-11-2 season. WVU managed just one Big East victory against Seton Hall late in the year.
The program suffered another blow right before the season when Fulk decided to accept an assistant position with USA Soccer.
Shortly afterward, West Virginia University Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong notified Seabolt that he was going to coach the team this year.
“I had a big smile on my face,” said Seabolt when informed of the news. “From the day I left Duke Law School to be a soccer coach I wanted to be a Division I head coach. I felt like I was going to be a successful Division I head coach and I felt like there was a great opportunity to do that here.”
Because Seabolt was Fulk’s primary recruiter and was responsible for most of the newcomers joining the program, the transition was seamless. He retained Scott Bowers as an assistant coach, and added Keystone College head coach Bryan Green.
Seabolt’s instructions to his players at their first team meeting were simple, “I told them that we need to make sure we get better each day and every game. As long as we’re getting better each day and every game then we’ve got to feel good about that.”
Seabolt’s soccer philosophy is also simple: play great defense.
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| West Virginia coach Mike Seabolt has the Mountaineers off to a winning 4-3 start. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“First and foremost we defend,” he said. “Defending win championships: it’s that way in any team sport. We work hard on defense to make sure we put pressure on the other teams and make it difficult for them, and then on offense we look to counter quickly.”
This approach has helped West Virginia jump out to a surprising 4-3 start after a close, 1-0 loss at No. 13-ranked Notre Dame last Sunday.
West Virginia has already managed shutout victories in four consecutive games against Villanova, Drexel, St. Francis, and Robert Morris – the first time that has been done by a WVU team since 1972.
Only twice has the Mountaineers allowed more than a goal in a game in losses at VCU and Richmond to start the season, and the West Virginia defense has given up just five goals this season.
West Virginia’s new-found defensive philosophy was never more evident than at Notre Dame last Sunday, when the Mountaineers managed to hold the nationally ranked Irish to just one goal in a close loss. Despite the surprising result, Seabolt was actually unhappy with his team’s performance.
“To be honest, as good as the result might have seemed I felt like we took a step backwards,” he said. “We didn’t play better than the game before so we’re not satisfied with that. I think the team realizes that as well. Could we have won had we played better? Maybe not, but that’s how we judge ourselves.”
Seabolt says he has plenty of examples to use when building a successful program, starting with the job Bobby Clark has done resurrecting Notre Dame soccer.
“He came in from Stanford and took a team that was about .500 the year before he came there. Now three years later Notre Dame is one of the top five teams in the country, regardless of where they are ranked. They are a very, very good team.”
Seabolt can see that happening at West Virginia University, too.
“If we played in a different conference we could be 6-1 right now,” he said. “But in the long term it’s an advantage because we can recruit players to the Big East. If we can win the Big East, we can win the national championship.”
Like most things, Seabolt doesn’t have an elaborate explanation when asked about his approach to recruiting.
“My approach to recruiting is to get good players,” he said. “The perfect formula for me is four or five impact foreign players that raise the level of the team and then the rest being made up of good American players.
“Foreign players are more concerned about the coaches,” he added. “American kids want to play in the Big East. Kids are willing to come here because it’s a great school and it’s in the Big East. Recruiting is not a problem -- we can win here.”
Seabolt says two additional factors helping him are the rapid development of the women’s program coached by Nikki Izzo-Brown and the construction of a new 1,800-seat stadium set to get underway once the season is completed.
“For whatever reason, in the past resources weren’t being taken advantage of and one of the great things is that because of the success of the women’s team, (the men) are going to have that support structure, too.
“It’s best for West Virginia soccer if both teams are successful,” Seabolt continued. “And we have to take advantage of those same things.”
With 17 freshmen included among a roster of 25 players, Seabolt is building the foundation for a winning men’s program. West Virginia has already achieved the same number of wins it had for the entire season last year, and the team played before a spirited and enthusiastic crowd in its home opener against Robert Morris two Sundays ago.
Seabolt is pleased with his team’s progress, but he is also trying to help them understand that they are capable of so much more.
“We’re 4-3 at this point and we’ve got a roster full of freshmen,” he said. “That’s fantastic but we can’t be satisfied. Now we have to recognize that we can win every game we play. Will we win every game we play the rest of the year? No, but we have to play with the realization that we have that opportunity and that’s the only way we’re going to get better.”
West Virginia fans can watch the Mountaineers this Wednesday when WVU plays a rescheduled game against Providence at 3:30 pm. The WVU women’s team follows the men at 7 pm against Binghamton.
