The 2010 Coaching Change-O-Rama
Todd Yeagley, who was the head coach at Wisconsin during the 2009 season, was named the new Indiana coach.  The selection of Yeagley clearly keeps the head coaching job in the Indiana family. For starters, Todd is the son of legendary IU head coach Jerry Yeagley who lead the Hoosier program for forty-one years. The hiring of the younger Yeagley is the closest Indiana can come to bringing back Jerry. Todd was a four time All-American and a National Player of the Year winner as a player at Indiana. He definitely knows what it takes to win at the highest level.
Although his stay at Wisconsin was a short one, Yeagleys performance there indicated he haswhat it takes to be a successful head coach. One of the challenges that Yeagley will face is that the Big Ten Conference is a much stronger conference now than it ever has been. The landscape began to change in the Big Ten when Michigan joined the conference in 2000. The emergence of the programs at Northwestern and Ohio State and the parity that now exists in the league means that the younger Yeagley will face a mountain that is a lot steeper and a little more slippery than in the past. All things considered, Yeagley looks to be a perfect fit for the future of the Indiana program.
Yeagley's move to Indiana opened the door for John Trask, who had been the head coach at UIC for five seasons, to make the move to Madison. UIC was a very healthy 54-24-26 under Trask and earned NCAA Tourney berths from 2006 through 2008 under his direction. The 2007 team made a statement on the national scene when they made a run to the Elite Eight in NCAA Tourney play.
Trask played collegiate soccer at Indiana and served as an assistant coach there before taking the head coaching job at UIC. He faces the challenge of creating a little stability at a program that will have had three different head coaches (Jeff Rohrman, Yeagley, and Trask) in three years. The program at Wisconsin is clearly a work in progress but Trask is a determined and battle tested competitor who should be up for it. Wisconsin is a program that has looked very promising at times in the recent past but has never really been able to turn the corner.
Sean Phillips was tapped to be the new head coach at UIC to replace Trask. Phillips has been the top assistant coach for the Flames for the past five years joining the program when Trask became the head coach in 2005. Phillips played collegiate soccer for, you guessed it, Indiana as a goalkeeper and was an assistant coach for the Hoosiers before joining the staff at UIC. Phillips faces the immediate challenge of getting UIC back on track after a disappointing 2009 season in which they were 6-6-7 overall with a 3-3-2 mark in Horizon league play. Maintaining momentum is huge in the very competitive Horizon League.
Bob Reasso, who had been the head coach at Rutgers for twenty-nine season, elected to resign at the conclusion of the 2009 season. Reasso had an outstanding career at Rutgers with an overall record of 351-183-71 and has been a key ambassador and contributor to the growth of college soccer. Reasso leaves a positive legacy that goes beyond what his team achieved on the field of play.
Rutgers subsequently named Dan Donigan, who had been the head coach at Saint Louis from 2001 through 2009 as the new head coach to replace Reasso. The Rutgers job is a return to home scenario for Donigan who is a native of Hamilton, New Jersey where he attended Steinert High School before playing collegiate soccer at Connecticut where he was a three-time All-American selection. Donigan served as an assistant coach at Saint Louis from 1997 through 2000 before moving into the head coaching job in 2001 when Bob Warming left Saint Louis to accept the head coaching job at Creighton.
Mike Noonan has been named the new head coach at Clemson replacing Phil Hindson who was the interim head coach at Clemson in 2009. Hindson, who was recently named the head coach at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, became the interim head coach at Clemson when Trevor Adair resigned prior to the 2009 season after serving as the head coach of the Tigers for fourteen years. Noonan comes to Clemson from Brown where he was 160-77-31 over a fifteen year tenure. Under Noonan's direction, Brown earned ten invites to the NCAA Tourney. Noonan looks to be a good fit for a tradition rich Clemson program that has had its share of distractions recently that have taken a temporary toll on the program. The Tigers were a sub-par 6-12-1 last year but help appears to be on the way.
Andy Fleming has been named the new head coach at Xavier replacing Dave Schureck wholeft his position to pursue other opportunities. Schureck was 24-55-12 during his five year stay at Xavier. Fleming comes to the head coaching job after serving as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Northwestern under Tim Lenahan for the past five seasons. Prior to that Fleming was an assistant coach at his alma mater Boston University from 1998 through 2007 under Neil Roberts. Fleming has paid his dues and will bring a wealth of technical and recruiting experience to his new role. He faces the challenge of creating a winning tradition at a program that has struggled to establish an identify in the past.