A Soccer Resurrection
July 21, 2008 10:22 AM | General
July 21, 2008
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| Marlon LeBlanc |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Third-year Head Coach Marlon LeBlanc has played a vital role in sparking a Renaissance-like era for the WVU men’s soccer program.
The 2006 Soccer America Coach of the Year is one of the brightest young coaches in the country. Coming to Morgantown with tremendous knowledge of the game stemming from his days as a player and assistant coach at Penn State, LeBlanc immediately put his front foot forward and got the maximum effort from his players.
“I think when I took the job here I knew that there was some good talent and some good players,” admitted LeBlanc. “What we’ve had is a nice combination between the great talent that was here and some of my experience coming here from a championship program. We had a bunch of guys that were juniors and seniors wanting to win and do great things. I think that little change in terms of how we wanted to play, what we wanted to do, and what we wanted to be about meshed with the talent that was here.”
After completing his first two seasons with veteran-led squads, LeBlanc is preparing a Mountaineer team filled with young talent that the program can build off of immediately and in the future. While there is experience returning with Gift Maworere, Paul Paradise and Zach Johnson, many of LeBlanc’s recruits will have an opportunity to showcase their skills as they strive for significant field time.
“In my opinion this is the best recruiting class I’ve ever had, and that includes two Top 10 teams we had at Penn State,” said LeBlanc. “I truly believe this group is special, and when you have a special group of incoming kids and a good core foundation of winners in your program, that’s a great combination of big-game experience and big-time youth.”
Although coaching a young lineup might help a team fly under the radar, LeBlanc believes that the large amount of quality players coming into a high-profile program will help prevent that. Having compiled a 29-9-5 record while coaching three All-Americans in only two seasons at the helm, LeBlanc has made WVU soccer a hotbed for churning out some of the nation’s best players.
This season, the third-year coach will spend plenty of time developing all of his young talent. Although the squad loses savvy players such as Andy Wright and Dan Stratford from last season’s Sweet 16 team, LeBlanc’s expectations remain high that WVU can compete with some of the best teams in the BIG EAST and throughout the country.
“I think externally the expectations for us as a program aren’t going to be the highest,” said LeBlanc. “Internally, within the program, the expectation is to be better than a year ago even though it is a freshmen and sophomore dominated team. We’ve got more incoming players than returning lettermen, but our goal is to win the national championship. I think the program standards are so high now that the quality of the kids that are coming in have those same expectations.”
One streak that WVU will look to continue is staying in the Top 25. In LeBlanc’s first two seasons, the Mountaineers’ consistent play led them into the national spotlight week-after-week. They were one of only three BIG EAST schools in 2007 to be ranked all season in the NSCAA/adidas and Soccer America polls.
LeBlanc guided WVU to several milestones last season, including staying in the Top 15 for 11 weeks and reaching the Top 10 for three of the season’s 13 weeks. He also understands that the hardest part is maintaining such a high level of play to merit those weekly honors.
“From my perspective of being at a good program and now building this into a national power, the relatively easy part is actually getting there,” said LeBlanc. “Getting to the Top 10 isn’t necessarily the hard part; it’s staying in the Top 10. The last two years we’ve stayed in the Top 25 poll every single week, and that’s a huge testament. I think being there and doing that and now instilling that in this team is something we have achieved the past two years.”
Along with success comes a tremendous fan following. The team’s two-year turnaround from mediocrity to BIG EAST powerhouse has caused a spike in attendance at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium and an increase in national exposure. The latest men’s soccer resurrection at WVU has given fans the pleasure of watching six professional athletes over a two-year span, with more likely to come after inheriting a highly-touted 14-player recruiting class.
With the evolution of the program coming into full force, LeBlanc has been more than appreciative by the high turnout for every home match. He believes his fast start in 2006 helped create a resurgence in fan appeal.
“Without a doubt we’ve had a meteoric rise in fans, attendance and in exposure over the last two years,” commented LeBlanc. “When I came here we were in a situation where the program was in a little bit of a flux. The best thing to happen that first year was going out and winning the BIG EAST. We went from having 300 fans a game to overselling games, and it’s great that the community and students have been engaged. I think that is fantastic.”
LeBlanc’s commitment into bettering himself as a head coach has never wavered. During the offseason he has traveled internationally to further his coaching education while getting a chance to witness the 2004 European Championships in Portugal as well as the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
As a student of the game, LeBlanc continues to look for things that he can preach to his players. While it is evident that soccer is a world-renowned sport, LeBlanc admires the European flair associated with the game and looks to bring that same passion back to Morgantown. He also hopes to broaden the appeal of WVU soccer by playing internationally against some of the world’s best competition.
“We are always looking for ways to challenge ourselves,” said LeBlanc. “When I take those international tours I am learning to be a better coach. The day I think I know it all is the day I need to quit because I’m going to start getting beat.
“It was great with the exposure ESPN brought to the Euro 2008. You watch those teams and try to pattern your team after them. Now we are looking at taking our kids overseas hopefully next year or the year after for an international tour.”
Before making those plans, LeBlanc will put his focus first and foremost on this season’s young squad. With a challenging schedule ahead, the 2008 Mountaineers will face some formidable foes as they learn to grow into a championship contender.
But LeBlanc believes that the pride in the program is too big to make any task seem insurmountable.
“We may have some growing pains with this year’s team, and we will have to learn how to win tight games,” admitted LeBlanc. “But any time our kids put on a West Virginia uniform, I will put my money on them 10 times out of 10 because they know that when we play and put on that jersey, we represent more than ourselves, but our state and our university.”
