From the October 1st issue of Penn State's Daily Collegian: Penn State men’s soccer coach Barry Gorman, who was honored in a pre-game ceremony prior to Friday’s contest against Big Ten rival Indiana, will miss the next month because of surgery he underwent yesterday. “He had to fix an ailment that needed to be addressed now,” Penn State men’s assistant soccer coach Marlon LeBlanc said. LeBlanc also said that Gorman had tried to hold off the surgery until after the season, but his doctors advised that he undergo the operation now. Gorman was in the middle of his 15th season as the head coach of the Nittany Lions and his overall record here is 201-95-20. In the 14 seasons prior to this year, he led the Lions to two Atlantic 10 conference championships and one Big Ten conference championship. He has also taken his team to the NCAA tournament nine times. The two-time NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year is Penn State’s all time leader in career wins. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame. LeBlanc will take over as interim head coach while Gorman recovers.
From the October 2nd issue of Penn State's Daily Collegian: The Penn State men's soccer team will be without head coach Barry Gorman for the next month. Gorman, who underwent surgery yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, will not be on the sidelines until the beginning of November. While no one in the organization is saying exactly what the surgery was for, coaches and players said that it was for a number of ailments. Penn State men's soccer assistant coach Marlon LeBlanc said that the coaches and the captains have known that Gorman would be undergoing surgery since late August. Gorman has been a fixture in Penn State soccer. He has been the coach for 15 years and has more wins than any other soccer coach in Penn State history. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and just a few weeks ago passed the 200-win plateau with a victory against Michigan. So the question going into this weekend's matches is this: How will the players react without Gorman on the sidelines? "The directive and objective are still the same," LeBlanc said. "We are not going to change things." LeBlanc and assistant coach Scott Black will lead the team throughout October and possibly into November. LeBlanc said that while he hasn't spoken directly to Gorman, he has spoken to his wife, Brenda, who said that Gorman is doing very well. The players and coaches agree that the absence of Gorman will not have a huge impact on how the team plays, now that the Big Ten schedule is in full swing. "It might be a little bit more of a relaxed atmosphere, but our problem isn't coaching," senior captain Brent Jacquette said. A lot of the talent on this year's squad comes from freshmen and sophomores, and everyone is waiting to see how the younger players react not having Gorman around. "It's going to be different with him not around, but now it's time to show Gorman what we're made of," sophomore midfielder Mike Lindemann said. But LeBlanc doesn't necessarily agree with Lindemann. "Coach Gorman never would have left if he knew it would affect them," LeBlanc said. "Players win games, not coaches." Although Gorman would have preferred to wait until the end of the entire soccer season to undergo the surgery, his doctors recommended that he should have the surgery now, LeBlanc said. LeBlanc went on to say that they will not use Gorman's absence as a means for motivating the players (i.e. win one for the Gipper). "We need to win for ourselves," LeBlanc said. "For ourselves and for Penn State." Story by Tony Calvello
Sounds like Gorman is a bit of a task master, doesn't it. Anyway, best wishes for a speedy recovery. It's clear that Barry has moved Penn State into the elite ranks of soccer, though it is interesting that he hasn't had any player that I can recall who is playing first division soccer professionally, either here or overseas. I think Potteinger is in the A league now; I don't know what happened to Villar. Those were the two in the last crop who had the best shot. However, I was quite impressed during the Big 10 tourney back in 1998 at Northwestern's Lakeside field, when, facing up to Indiana in the finals (a team that had FOUR future MLS players, and TWO current MLS starters), Barry made some shrewd tactical adjustments for the second half that nearly won the game for the Lions. That was one of the best college games I have ever seen.
Derek Potteiger was just named the Pittsburgh Riverhounds player of the year actually. And Ricardo Villar played with the Hampton Roads Mariners of the A-League too. I can't think of anyone Barry has produced that is playing first division soccer, though Potteiger might have a good chance if any MLS liked him this year. Villar is Brazilian and without a green card so I would think MLS won't happen. Chad Severs might have the best shot of his current players. He has scored 8 goals and 2 assists in 10 games this year. Brent Jacquette also garners some attention, he was named to Soccer America's team of the week recently. He was a defensive midfielder who has been moved to sweeper this year. Neither Severs or Jacquette boast the most amazing physical skills but both are savvy players, one a goal poacher and the other a defensive stopper. Brian Devlin and David Walters are two freshmen making an immediate impact, Devlin went to the school that produced Bobbdy Convey and Chris Albright so he might be on PRO-40's radar. Anyway, I echo Karl's wishes for a speedy recovery. We'll see how much the team misses as PSU goes on the road a lot in October.