Tyler Brock's First Season as Men's Soccer Head Coach Proves Successful
Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2018
UNOH Men's Soccer Head Coach Tyler Brock
Written By: Lauren Raftery, UNOH Contributing Columnist
In the 2017 WHAC tournament, the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers beat rival Lawrence Tech to be crowned the WHAC champions once again. In a tough game the UNOH Men’s team pulled through a great win beating the Blue Devils 2-0. This was Tyler Brock’s first big win as the new Head Coach after the team finished 4th in regular season play. Brock was recruited as the UNOH Men’s Varsity Soccer Head Coach only three months before the start of preseason.
When he was first brought into the program, Brock had a massive task on his hands. Quite a few players were weeks away from graduation and some were transferring, and there was not much time to recruit. Brock persevered and ended up building an entirely new program, with a new style and a new system and ended up having a very successful season. “I think it says a lot about our guys at the end of the day and how they dealt with all that adversity and still found a way to win the WHAC Tournament and make to the NAIA National Tournament,” says Brock. The transition itself was a hard one according to Brock, “Union (Ky.) and Barbourville was my home for 20 years. We left a lot of good people and great work environment to come here and build something new.” Brock said the support system he was given when he came to UNOH was what he had prayed for and is very thankful that he was able to be part of this amazing group of players and staff.
When it comes to the success story of the program, what ended up being the biggest achievement for him was more about how the team members created something new and authentic. “I think one of the more important things we did, is we created a DNA and an identity for who we are as a program and what we expect of ourselves both on and off the field.”
“Playing soccer was not just the whole reason of the program; it was also becoming a part of the community and getting more involved with them.” He tells his players that they need to have positive relationships, and to do things the right way first.
“We tell our guys all the time, ‘Worry about the process and the results will take care of themselves’,” says Brock.
Brock states, “Now that the season is over, next year is about building off of that foundation so we can see the success that is made from it.” Improvements on the program itself is another thing that Brock is striving for next year. His focus is about being able to strive to be better and do more.
“We tell our players all the time, ‘Best the best version of yourself, regardless of the task at hand’,” says Brock. He continues on saying, “If we are constantly doing that, all of us should always be improving and expecting more from ourselves each day.” The goals for his team members are to play better on the field, be mentally stronger, have better grades in the classroom, and be more involved in the community.
As a completely new team, winning the WHAC Conference for many of the players “was a really special thing especially doing it the way we did,” according to Brock. “For a program to get a new coach three months away from the start of preseason, lose most of its players, play one of the toughest schedules in the country, finish 4th in the regular season, and then persevere through all that to win on the road at a very good Lawrence Tech team and make the national tournament, is just awesome.”
In the end, that was not the end game for the team, it was more about how the team has bigger goals and greater expectations for themselves as individuals. Brock talks about how even though they were very excited and proud about winning the Conference Championship, everyone was still humbled by how hard they worked for the Championship title, and knew they had to work hard to make a run at the NAIA National Championship.
The NAIA National Championship first round ended up not going the way they wanted it to, as the team lost to Columbia University. Brock, instead of being upset, praised the team for playing one of their best games of the year saying, “we didn’t get the result we wanted, it just goes to learning. I believe you’re either winning or your learning. If you learn your lessons there is no losing.”
Brock had help in creating this year’s successful team; he was reliant on Carlos Guillen and Kedar Roderick to help transition the program and to keep it running smoothly. “When I took this job one of the more serious things I prayed and ask God for was a staff that could help me learn the ways of UNOH and surround me with people that have similar views and ideas as I had, and he could not have answered my prayers any more,” admits Brock. But it was not just Carlos and Kedar that helped, but also the help from Tendai Jirira, Justin Callow, and Aron Downey, as Brock gratefully says “I will forever be indebted to those guys for all the help, support, and advice they have given me over this first season.”
There was also help from his players, “the group itself has some very special individuals and a lot of them have so many talents and abilities that don’t have anything to do with soccer. I’m excited to see where they go and what they do with their lives. There are a lot of role models and genuinely good people in this group and I can’t wait to see what they do once they graduate from here” said Brock.
In the end, Brock was very grateful for his first season at UNOH. With the help of his coaching staff and players, the program turned out quite successful, considering all the challenges they had along the way, and after having a difficult start, the finish was more than anyone expected.
Congratulations to the UNOH Men’s Varsity Team on their WHAC Championship, you deserved it!
Category: Athletics
Keywords: Soccer, Tyler Brock, Racers Athletics
