It has been far from an overnight transformation by which UC Santa Barbara coach Tim Vom Steeg has taken the Gauchos to the ranks of NCAA Men’s Soccer elite, but simultaneous motifs of upward mobility and crashing the party have been definite aspects of the program’s success story.

Vom Steeg has coached UCSB for 10 years now, garnering eight Big West titles, two NSCAA coach of the year awards and most importantly a 2006 national championship to follow a 2004 runner-up performance in the NCAA.

He admits his background as a coach at Santa Barbara City College is unlikely preparation for leading a national title contender, but also notes there were advantages to it.

“Coming from the junior college ranks and teaching, I wasn’t on a track to be a DI college coach. I was on a track for a PhD in a history program and involved in soccer because I enjoyed coaching it, but I didn’t see it as an occupation,” Vom Steeg said. “In junior college you can’t recruit outside of your town so I hadn’t been involved since the time I played club soccer. I remember going to the Nomads March tournament for the first time after I got the UCSB job and thinking, ‘Wow, everyone’s really good.’ So I knew if you wanted to win you had to do it differently. It had to look different and you couldn’t just go to all the same places and recruit from the same places and you couldn’t walk out and put your 4-4-2 against all the others."

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“So on one hand I was at a disadvantage from not being familiar at all with the college landscape, but I knew it was going to have to be different,” he said. “In my previous experience of coaching at junior college, you had to start again every single year with a very different roster. So you try different systems and formations because you have to. It’s an opportunity to try things and some things work and some things don’t. So we started trying those things when we got to UCSB.”

Vom Steeg said as hard as it was to build a program that punched through to the NCAA College Cup (Final 4) in 2004, the harder challenge actually has been to stay there.

“They are completely different challenges, but I’d say coming out on the other side is actually harder,” he said. “We were winning games before that 2004 team and while no disrespect is intended, before it felt like we could win games just by caring more, trying harder and being fitter. Now I can tell you that those same wins are harder to come by. We don’t have the luxury of taking any time off. Our scheduling of course has become a lot harder, but every single game it’s a lot harder to win.”

Vom Steeg also shared that even more than the 2004 and 2006 tournament runs, it was when the program started to place players in the professional ranks that he felt more secure in its top-tier status.

“The really big transition for us was not winning a national championship, but to have six players drafted into MLS following the ’07 season,” he said. “It’s amazing because you think a national championship will dramatically change the way we do things, that players will just walk in the door and we’ll have our choice of recruits, but that didn't happen. But it is a little different now that we have players on rosters and starting lineups of professional teams.”

The other aspect about the UCSB program making it big is that there seems to be an underlying residue of resentment over them being there from some of the more traditional members of the college soccer establishment. Vom Steeg acknowledges that the personality and playing style of the 2004 team may have contributed to that somewhat, but he also downplays the severity of any ongoing backlash toward the Gauchos.
 
“We did upset the applecart with the ‘04 team. Their style of play was physical, we were very big, and wow, we played direct. You play to your strength and what you have,” he said. “That ’04 team was also a team that had been made up of freshmen and for three years won the conference championship. By the time they became seniors, they played with a lot of attitude and had a big edge to their game. I never went into the locker room with that team and said ‘You guys aren’t given me enough, play harder.’ Those guys killed each other even in practice."

“What they did was bust through all the doors. They made playoffs, were ranked #1, ended Indiana’s unbeaten streak, beat UConn at UConn. They came one kick from winning the national championship and really left a mark behind. I don’t apologize for any of it. You take the group you get and to me, that was a very special group,” he said.

“Fast forward five years later and this is a completely different team. Talent wise we recruit different players in terms of ability and skill. We’re a completely different team and the last team who, if you watched us, you would probably call a really physical team. We don’t punt anymore. You see a lot of balls rolled out and a lot of touches in midfield. Coaching-wise, I’ve evolved with it. It may be that some people are still living off of the ‘04 team, but show me a championship team and I’ll show you a team that’s tough to play against. Our fans have grown up with the program, and they will be the first to tell you there is a difference between ‘04 and ’06 and this next team.”

Fans of the college game will look forward to the chance to assess in ’09.

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