Oct. 8, 1999
by Alan Wasielewski
Irish men’s soccer coach Mike Berticelli recently celebrated his 100th win at Notre Dame when the Irish defeated Eastern Michigan on September 29. Berticelli, who began his coaching tenure in 1990, is just the third men’s soccer in the 22-year history of the of the program. Recently, he had a chance to reflect on the milestone and the 10 years he has spent at the University.
Q: How does it feel to know you have won 100 matches at Notre Dame?
A: It certainly is rewarding and I feel a great deal of pride. It brings everything together for me. Every player that I have coached at Notre Dame had a hand in achieving this accomplishment. That is what makes it so rewarding. It is not so much the 100 wins, but the time I have been here and a milestone that encompasses every player I have coached at Notre Dame.
Q: You took over the head coaching position in 1990. What was that first year like?
A: My first year at Notre Dame was my most difficult in coaching. The transition was far more difficult than I imagined. We lost nine starters from the previous season and I took the job in late spring with no time to do any recruiting. We were in every game and close to beating several good teams but the whole season was an eye-opener for me. I had never had a losing season in my coaching career. In coaching, you feel like you can fix anything, just patch it up and get through the tough times. It was a lot more difficult than I ever anticipated it would be. The season, however, provided a great deal of motivation for me. It was wonderful and inspiring to be at Notre Dame, but also humbling to have your first season be a losing one.
Q: When did you get the feeling that you were guiding the program in the right direction?
A: I think it was that first recruiting class. We were able to add some quality players right away and I knew we could develop a quality program. It wasn’t until 1993 that we won our first Midwestern Collegiate Conference championship. We looked at that as our first real accomplishment with our players. At that time, it was a tough conference and very competitive.
Q: How did the change from the MCC to the BIG EAST conference affect the program?
A: It has had a stunning impact. Of all 21 conferences in the country, the BIG EAST is ranked second in men’s soccer. In any given season our league has anywhere from five to seven teams who appear in the top 25 at one time or another during the season. Our first year in the BIG EAST, we really took it on the chin, but fortunately in just our second season, we won the conference tournament. We really were inspired after our year.
I think the BIG EAST has the toughest conference schedule in the nation. The ACC has more powerful teams, but they have fewer teams in the conference and they don’t have to play as many league games. We play 11 BIG EAST games and every weekend of the year we are playing a conference game – that is highly unusual. We don’ have much time to go outside the conference and play mid-week games. Every game in the BIG EAST is a war and our players never get a chance to relax.
Q: It might be said that your 1996 team was the most successful in your tenure at Notre Dame. (The Irish finished 14-7-2 that year, won the BIG EAST tournament and upset second-ranked UNC Greensboro in the first round of the NCAA tournament ). what are your memories of that year?
A: Certainly the accomplishment of that team was great. We made it to the final 16 and gave up a goal to North Carolina Charlotte in the last few seconds to lose a heartbreaker in the second rounds. We were so close to making it to the NCAA semifinals that year. The year before, we didn’t have a good season, and then the following year we come back and have such a fantastic turnaround. The one thing I am most proud of with the teams I have coached here Notre Dame is that every year have faced adversity, the following year we come back and have a turn everything around. That is a tribute to the type of athlete you get at Notre Dame.
Q: What else have you learned from coaching at Notre Dame?
A: One thing is that once you put on that Notre Dame uniform, you are not going to have an easy game. Every time we play, no matter who the opponent is, it’s one of their biggest games of the year. Everyone in this country wants to tell their grandson that they scored the winning goal against Notre Dame. When teams play us, I honestly think the players on the field build up this mentality that they’re playing against Knute Rockne, Joe Montana, Rocket Ismail and John Paxson all rolled up in one. Our players learn very early that there is no easy game on the schedule. It’s tough for our players to get motivated for every game, especially if we play on a week night after a long day of classes. It is one of the most interesting challenges I face at Notre Dame.
Q: What do you see in the future for the soccer program at Notre Dame?
A: I am not a person who sets numbers as a goal. I really did not know about the 100 wins until people started to remind me. Right now my objectives are the same as this University. In addition to being able to assemble a top-quality program, one of our primary goals is to continue to graduate our player and place them in the best possible situation for life after college. We want to be successful on the field, but not at the expense of not having our student-athletes graduate and do as well as they can in the classroom. I don’t think that philosophy would ever change at Notre Dame. The goals of this University are the same as mine.
One of the quotes Lou Holtz used to say is that “No matter what background you come from or what you think is important, Notre Dame will not become you, you will become Notre Dame.” For me, that reflects all the beliefs and traditions of this place. Everyone here has their priorities in the right place.