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Date: 3/13/2015
SPRINGFIELD – Former UMass men’s soccer interim head coach Devin O’Neill, who is a West Springfield native, has been named to lead the men’s soccer program at Western New England University, it was announced recently by Western New England athletics director Dr. Michael Theulen. O’Neill comes to the Golden Bears after serving on the Minutemen’s coaching staff for the past three seasons, including as interim coach last fall and as an assistant during the 2012 and 2013 seasons under the late Sam Koch.
“I am so excited to be the next men’s soccer Coach at Western New England,” O’Neill said. “I feel very fortunate for this opportunity and want to thank Dr. Theulen, (Senior Associate Director of Athletics) Joe Sassi, (Assistant Athletic Director/Business Manager) Jody Lemoi and the entire search committee for selecting me. During the search process, I was so impressed with the positive energy in the department and I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues.
“We will evaluate our progress in three areas including academic achievement, strong citizenship including impacting our local community, and athletic success. The Commonwealth Coast Conference is outstanding in the sport of men’s soccer and will provide a great challenge as we pursue future CCC championships.
“I am excited to meet the entire team and begin our work together in the non-traditional season. I also am looking forward to continuing the recruiting efforts begun by coaches Erin Sullivan and Tim Larocca (an assistant who served as the head coach on an interim basis during the search process) as we look to secure the recruiting class of 2015,” said O’Neill.
O’Neill will be entering his 22nd year as a college coach in 2015 with the Golden Bears that includes previous stops at Division I Bradley University (2010-11), East Carolina University (1999-2002), Fresno State University (1996-97), Lafayette College (1994-95), UMass (2012-14), Ohio State University (1997-98) and Division III Gettysburg College (2003-09).
O'Neill, 45, graduated from Middlebury College in 1991 and received his master's degree from Springfield College in 1993.
He came to UMass following a two-year stint at Bradley in which the Braves participated in the NCAA Tournament each season. With Bradley, O'Neill helped the D-I Braves to a pair of NCAA appearances in 2010 and 2011, marking the first time in the program's history to make back-to-back trips to the national tournament. In his two seasons in Peoria, the Braves posted a 26-15-5 record with 15 wins in 2011 for the second-most wins in program history.
O'Neill replaces Erin Sullivan who resigned in January to take the men's soccer post at Williams College, his alma mater.