| Ray Reid leaves his mark on men's soccer program |
|
|
|
| Written by John Pierson | |
| Wednesday, September 19, 2007 | |
|
It's never easy replacing a legend, but that's exactly what UConn soccer coach Ray Reid had to do 11 years ago. He was replacing long time coach Joe Marrone. He's demanding, passionate and rather outgoing, and in his ten plus years behind the bench he has more wins than any other coach or program in the Big East.  He's won a few national championships, but popularity contests -- he'll never win any. "I'm not running for office, I'm not here to make friends," Reid said. "I'm here to graduate guys, get guys better, win games, ya know. I don't need to be liked." Love him or hate him, Ray Reid's record commands respect. What he says goes. "If you step out of line you'll get smacked," tri-captain Julius James said. A verbal smacking that is. Stones fly from the native New Yorker's mouth faster than the wins have piled up. Playing and working for him isn't easy. "I don't see anything wrong with what I do, but certainly some of them do," Reid said. "It's intense," says James. "Coach Reid is passionate. He's intense," says senior forward Chukwudi Chijindu. "Yeah, intense is a great word to describe him," adds tri-captain Karl Schilling. "We take it serious, sometimes too serious," Reid admits. "Certainly Ray Reid is not for everybody." His approach works. No Big East coach has won more games in the last ten years. The biggest came in 2000 with a national championship. No other conference coach has one of those. "It's a great feeling," Reid says. "I tried to explain to the guys here now until you win one you really don't understand what its about." Reid can't win enough. Soccer is his life. Back in the day he played and was captain at Division II Southern Connecticut State. "I was an alright player," says Reid. "Soccer was different then. I couldn't play with these guys, I'll tell you that. I'd need a cab to keep up with them." Eventually Reid took over where he played. He replaced a legend at Southern too. His former coach Bob Dikranian. "Eeewwwfff! I think it was harder taking over for Bob," says Reid. "I was his assistant. I had no experience as a head coach. I didn't want to let him down. "I played for the guy. I was his captain, I was his assistant. The last thing I wanted to do was have that program slip on my watch." It didn't. Reid won three national championships in 8 years. When time was up he replaced Morrone. He made that look easy too. Recruiting internationally he's set a standard. Eventually Reid's players, no matter where they're from, understand his method of madness. "He's trying to break your confidence to see if you can handle the big game," says Chijindu. "Tough love is the word, tough love," James says. "Sometimes you see the soft side as you get older, as you become a senior, because you're a man and you know your responsibilities." "I stop breaking their chops 'cause they get it and they do it right," says Reid. "I think playing for Coach Reid was the right decision for me," says Chijindu. "It might not be for everyone though." "He's said to us a couple of times, tells us when he dies, he wants his record on his tombstone, and i think that says it all," tri-captain Ryan Corderio said. Says Reid, "when I leave here I want people to say we didn't understand him, we didn't really like him, but he left the soccer program a whole lot better than he found it." |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
