It's old news, but about time we mentioned it here on Building the Dam.
From the Official Site:
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Steve Simmons, a former associate head coach at Oregon State who has served the last six seasons at the helm of the Northern Illinois men's soccer program, has been named OSU head men's soccer coach Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis announced on Friday.
On the surface it seems like a great hire for the Beavers due to Simmons' deep ties to the Pacific Northwest and his already established ties to the OSU soccer program.
Simmons takes over for Dana Taylor, who resigned at the end of June to take the same position at Cal State Stanislaus. Under Taylor, Oregon State reached the NCAA Men's Soccer Championships two times (2002, 2003), the first appearances in school history, as he compiled a 79-98-14 record in 10 seasons with the Beavers.
Taylor was named Pac-10 Co-Coach of the Year when he lead the Beavers qualified for a tournament berth and ended the year at 13-8.
I'm not a soccer virtuoso by any means, but it seems that Corvallis isn't exactly the Mecca of the College Soccer world. For Simmons, the move from NIU to OSU seems like another step on his career path, but he told Brooks Hatch of the Gazette Times that he is geniunely excited to come to Oregon State:
"There are a lot of opportunities out there as far as a career for me," Simmons said. "I just can't think of another place in the country I'd want to be. Being here in Corvallis, with this program, with this conference, with the people in the athletic department -. it's such a good fit. My excitement is as genuine as it gets.
Simmsons told James Nokes of the DeKalb Daily Chronicle that he's proud of the changes he's brought to the NIU program: and we can only hope he does the same to the Oregon State program.
"The cupboards are full for NIU right now. When I came here there were no cupboards."
Let's hope he can stock the cupboards that Dana Taylor has erected. Six Pac-10 teams compete in Men's Soccer, and UCLA was the conference champion this year-- both UCLA and California went to post-season play. Simmons took NIU to the tournament in 2006. He continues:
We've established a legacy at NIU that I will always be proud of.
Good luck to Coach Simmons, his staff, and the Oregon State men's soccer team this off-season. Their regular season begins September 4 against San Jose State.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)