Case Western Reserve University's Mike Pilger is not a traditional soccer coach. That may have gotten him fired from his last job but is likely to be key to his new one.

"I like to goof around a little," said Pilger, Case's new head soccer coach. "I don't use all the soccer terminology that most coaches use and don't act like they do. I don't think I consciously made a decision to be different. I just am, and I think that it's good."

Good for college-aged kids but maybe not professional soccer players. Pilger, former coach of the Cleveland Force, who play in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), was let go after just 47 games.

"People say you are hired to be fired when you are a professional," Pilger said. "But you have to have a certain amount of confidence in your ability to be able to get back up, and I have that confidence in my ability."

Pilger, 45, who had early success as a college coach, said he has no regrets taking the leap to the MISL and doesn't believe he failed with the Force. Like many coaches in many sports who have suffered the same fate, Pilger said he believes he wasn't given enough time to make a difference.

Time may not have been on his side with the Force, but at Case he will have plenty-and probably will need it.

The Case men's soccer team only won two games last year and hasn't posted a winning season in over a decade. Add to that seven starters from 2002 lost to graduation, so Pilger will start from nearly rock bottom. But that's nothing new to him.

"All it takes is a little hard work and mix in having fun," Pilger said.

"The kids already have a lot of pressure on them academically, so when they come out to practice, I want to make it a release from that pressure and make it fun. It's a game-have fun."

That philosophy certainly worked well at his last two gigs.

After going 7-8-1 during his first year (1992) at Rochester, Pilger's teams qualified for the NCAA postseason in four of the next five years, three times finishing in the top 10. Pilger was 93-55-20 in nine seasons at Rochester.

Prior to his success turning around the Rochester team, in Pilger's first job (1988) as a head coach, he inherited a Kenyon College team that also went close to a decade without a winning season. Two years later (1990) he was recognized as the Division III National Coach of the Year after leading the Lords to an 18-0-0 record and their first NCAA postseason bid. Pilger finished his four-year career at Kenyon 57-13-3.

Undermanned in the UAA

The Spartans have not won a University Athletic Association match since the 1999 season (2002: 0-7, 2001: 0-7, 2000: 0-7, 1999: 1-5-1). But maybe things will change with the addition of Pilger (hired April 4, 2003), who is a two-time UAA Coach of the Year (1993 & 1997) and coached the association's first undefeated soccer team back in 1997 (Rochester, 7-0).

"I don't have to go down the list as to what those (UAA) teams have accomplished. It's pretty well known-national championships, final fours, consistent NCAA tournament appearances and top 20 for every team except Case and NYU (New York University)," Pilger said. "And NYU has gotten a lot better."

Return to the online edition of the 9-25-03 Campus News.