With 24 seasons under his belt, men’s soccer coach Dean Koski’s time at Lehigh has not been defined by the wins and losses, but by the individual moments he’s spent with his players.
In the midst of his 24th season, Koski was surprised when he realized he was just one win away from 200 career wins as head coach.
“First and foremost, I’m a teacher at heart,” Koski said. “Techniques, tactics and the intellectual part of the game are important to me.”
Although Koski is the longest tenured soccer coach in school history, he claims it’s not all about the wins. His main focus as a coach is on teaching. He wants his players to be both great soccer players and great people off the field.
“Coach Koski is good at not only developing you as a player, but also as a person,” junior defensemen Justin Worley said. “He teaches you a lot about leadership and responsibility. The best part, in my opinion, about playing for Koski is how much I’ve grown as a person and how I’ve seen my friends around me do the same.”
Soccer has always played a large role in Koski’s life. As a kid, he played soccer all through middle and high school. Koski continued his soccer career at West Chester University, a Division I soccer school, where he majored in physical education.
Koski’s career began coaching high school soccer for a few years before making the move to collegiate coaching. He coached at Bloomsburg University for a year where he received his Master’s degree. The following year, the head coaching job opened up at Lehigh, so Koski made the move to the brown and white, where he has remained for the past 24 years.
“Most coaches don’t go in thinking they will stay at one place for this long,” Koski said. “But I came in with an open mind, and it’s worked out.”
After 24 years of watching players come and go, Koski has definitely had some remarkable wins. One of his most memorable and favorite wins came in November of 2006 when his team defeated University of Rhode Island in penalty kicks to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
“Beating Rhode Island in the NCAA Tournament was one of my favorite coaching moments,” Koski said. “It was a cold November night, the stands were packed, it was a 0-0 game, and prior to the penalty kicks our players thanked the fans and clapped for them. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that energy.”
Although Koski’s career has amounted to a great deal of success, he says his losses are his least favorable moments as a coach. For every loss, there is always something he looks back on and wishes he could have done differently.
“Losses stay with you more than the enjoyment of a win, but my least favorite game every year is the last game the seniors play, win or loss,” Koski said. “This game is always the game that ends their career and the emotion on their faces is my least favorite moment coaching.”
As such an experienced coach, Koski has developed a distinct coaching style from his experience and focuses on maintaining an organized defense, which allows him to accumulate a lot of shutouts. Koski is also described as a very thoughtful coach when making decisions.
“(Koski’s) decisions are never erratic and are always about perspective,” assistant coach Ryan Hess said. “He knows every player has a learning curve, so every decision we make is calculated and this is one of his greatest attributes as a coach.”
Twenty-four years later, Koski still brings the same passion for the game that originally made him want to become a coach. The energy he brings to each practice and his aspiration to teach his players every day allows him to continue to run an impressive program.
“I would describe Coach Koski as a caring and passionate person,” junior midfielder Danny Gonzalez said. “Caring because he looks to help every player grow as both a soccer player and as a person. Passionate because he has a lot of emotion for the game and pushes us to be the best that we can be.”
Even though Koski has had an accomplished career as the Mountain Hawks’ head coach thus far, he remains humble and does not want his record to be more important than what his players do as a team.
“If you’re around any place long enough you will acquire some milestones, but these are more important to the players and alumni who were apart of the team than they are for me,” Koski said.
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