Sept. 4, 2007
By Greg Kincaid
At times, Barry Gorman feels like his first day as Penn State men's soccer head coach was yesterday.
In his 20th season as head coach, and his 22nd season overall at Penn State, Gorman has compiled a career record of 242-131-33. The Northern Ireland native says that every year has been different and every day has been different, but the process is the same.
"You get a chance to surround yourself with energetic, enthusiastic, bright young minds all the time," said Gorman. "It's like raising 24 sons every year."
Gorman, who began his career at Penn State as an assistant in 1986, feels that it is important to stay at an institution like Penn State for a significant amount of time. "It means a great deal because, I think one of the major points of being a successful coach is longevity," Gorman said.
Coach Gorman also believes that if you stay at a University for a substantial amount of time, your number one priority is to leave the place better than it was found. "I just look upon myself as a type of janitor," he said. "My job is to leave the place in better shape than I found it. That should be the hallmark for all coaches."
Penn State has been a great place for Gorman's family as well. He says that working at a place like Penn State has been very gratifying. "My son grew up here, he went to school here," he said. "We love the area, we love Pennsylvania."
One of the timely events that Gorman does as head coach is international recruiting. The 2007 roster will include six international players, coming from Spain, Brazil, Canada, Iceland and Venezuela. Even though the process of recruiting international players takes about a year, Gorman believes that having that long tenure as a head coach gives him an advantage when it comes to finding the players. Having alumni that played at Penn State that come from places like Finland, Norway, Ireland and Germany has given him an advantage in the recruiting process.
"[The relationship with former players] is always the gratifying because they wouldn't come back if you were not around," Gorman says. He claims that these relationships are important when it comes to player recommendations.
Gorman says that the alumni will tend to find a young talented player in their country, and then could recommend that player. "Many of the alumni say that if they could do it over again, they would jump at a chance to come to a place like Penn State," Gorman says. "I think that's what makes it easy for [the alumni] to help young soccer players in their community or country."
Many international players have really appreciated the opportunity Gorman has given them to play at a high profile university like Penn State. "He brought us here, he gave us the chance to play," said Jacobo Vera, a sophomore forward from Spain. "Even though it was hard for us at the beginning to get used to the style of play, he always supports us."
Gorman says that what he has enjoyed most about Penn State is the people he has dealt with. He said that he is blessed with the number of truly good people that have come through the doors. "I think that is what makes Penn State great," he said. "The people that come here work, study and live, are absolutely wonderful people."