Text Box: College football has its Bobby Bowdens, Joe Paternos, Knute Rocknes and college basketball has it’s Mike Krzyzewskis, John Woodens, and Dean Smiths. College soccer coaches don’t get the press or spotlight that some of their counterparts receive. However just like their counterparts in other sports, college soccer coaches have a tremendous impact on the quality and growth of college soccer in the United States. Successful coaches have several key factors in common and we thought we would give a go at recognizing those college soccer coaches who are particularly effective. We began by identifying the ability to Teach, Motivate, and Recruit as three universally accepted factors that are very important to success as a coach at the college level. We then did some research, got some input, added our thoughts and came up with a list of coaches who are particularly effective in each of these three areas. We thought we would share our findings with you. Although some coaches excel in more than one area, we did not include any coach in both the teacher and motivator categories. We did double up some when it came to recruiting. We don’t claim to have a perfect list and it is likely that we left off some very deserving coaches. However, we do stand behind our selections. Some of them just might surprise you! Then again they may not. We plan to make this an annual article so any feedback you care to provide is always appreciated. Teachers/Tacticians These guys may approach things differently but they all are good educators. They are very effective at working with their players to improve not only their individual skills but more importantly they are effective at combining and merging individual skills into a system or style of play that gets results and produces solid team play. (In alphabetical order) Motivators Each of these guys does it his own way but what they have in common is the ability to get the very best out of their players. Their teams are focused, they love challenges, they give it all they have, and relish pressure situations. Their teams come prepared to play but the great motivators go beyond just getting their teams up on game day. They have the ability to instill a work ethic and sense of pride that produces the type of consistent and dedicated effort on the practice field that ends up paying dividends when it comes to crunch time. (In alphabetical order) Top Recruiters Some of these coaches have been at it for a long time and others for just a few years. We considered two factors in our selections. The best recruiters are good strategic planners and great salesmen. Strategic planners in that they are able to identify short and long term gaps in their team that must be filled if their program is going to compete successfully and great salesmen in that they are able to convince the players who have the mental and physical attributes that they need to sign on the dotted line. (In alphabetical order)