By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For close to seven years now, Steve Springthorpe has been a staple on the pitch at Tech Soccer Field. Patrolling the sidelines as leader of the Golden Eagles since joining the TTU ranks in December of 2013, the longest-tenured head coach in program history will remain in purple and gold for the foreseeable future.
Already tied for the most wins by a Tech head soccer coach in school history, Springthorpe will have the chance to continue to rewrite the Golden Eagle record books after receiving a contract extension that will keep him in Cookeville through the end of the 2024 campaign.
"I am very thankful for the opportunity to coach here at Tennessee Tech," Springthorpe claimed. "I want to thank President Oldham, [director of athletics] Mark Wilson, [associate athletic director] Tammie McMillan and the rest of the administration for their continued belief in me leading the soccer program. The coaching staff has worked hard to develop a program that the athletic department and University can be proud of and I am excited to be able to lead the current and future teams to an even higher level of success, with an ultimate desire to capture the OVC championship in the near future.
"Tennessee Tech is a great place to work and I am grateful for the opportunity to stay here for the next five years and hopefully even longer," Springthorpe continued. "Over the years I have built a number of important friendships within the department and those individuals have played a major part in my coaching and personal life. I consider Cookeville home and the community is a great place to live."
While his next victory will break the deadlock with Greg Stone for the most nods in the tale of Tech soccer, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact Springthorpe has made since coming aboard over half a decade ago.
Armed with the tall task of reversing the course of a program that had not enjoyed a winning season in the nine years prior to his arrival, the Miami, Fla. native quickly changed the narrative when it comes to Tennessee Tech soccer. Following a transitional season in his first year at the helm in 2014, the Golden Eagles rapidly rose to a place of rarified air with arguably the best three-year stretch in program history.
After accumulating a total of five wins in two seasons from 2013-14, TTU enjoyed 28 victories from 2015-17, the most in three straight seasons for the squad since the early 2000s. Tech's 18 Ohio Valley Conference wins during the stretch are also the most in a three-year window in program history, shattering the old record of 11 from 1998-2000.
The abundance of victories helped pave the way for the purple and gold to stake claim as one of the top tier teams in the OVC in regards to regular-season standings and postseason achievement. With a second-place regular season finish in 2017, Tech joined Murray State as the only two teams in the conference to finish in the top three in the standings from 2015-17, a first for the program since the late 90s to early 2000s.
As far as success in the postseason is concerned, with Springthorpe in charge, Tech accompanied Murray State as the only two teams in the league to make it all the way to the OVC Tournament semifinals for three consecutive seasons from 2015-17. Furthermore, with a return trip the OVC Tournament in 2019 after the program's fourth conference-winning campaign in the last five years, Springthorpe's clubs have been responsible for four of the program's six appearances in the OVC Tournament since 2004.
"I couldn't be happier with what Steve Springthorpe has been able to accomplish since taking over as Tennessee Tech head soccer coach," TTU director of athletics Mark Wilson said. "He immediately built Golden Eagle soccer into a perennial championship-level contender in the OVC and is a first class representation of how we want our programs to be led. Not only have we become accustomed to his team's on-field success, but the student-athletes of Tech soccer continue to reach greater heights in the classroom and within the community since Coach Springthorpe took over. I am proud he is a member of our Golden Eagle family and know that big things are on the horizon for this program."
Not only has Tech soccer enjoyed a slew of success when it comes to wins, conference standings and postseason prosperity, but a deeper dive into some of the numbers brings historical significance into the conversation. Year in and year out the Golden Eagles sit toward the top as one of the stingiest defensive squads in the OVC, highlighted by the 2017 club that set the program record with only eight goals allowed in 17 matches. Tech's 0.45 goals against average that season was also the best mark in school history and sat a mere percentage point behind the OVC's all-time mark of 0.44.
Under Springthorpe's direction, 20 Golden Eagles have earned a spot on the All-OVC postseason teams, including 11 on the All-OVC first team after Tech tied a league-best with three placed on the 2019 list. TTU goalkeeper Kari Naerdemann, the program's all-time record holder in victories and OVC career leader in shutouts, became the only player in league history to win three straight OVC Defensive Player of the Year awards, capturing the accolade from 2015-17.
"I think there are many team accomplishments that stand out during my last six seasons as head coach," Springthorpe said. "But right off the get go it's the players that come through the program and have graduated that stick in my mind. So many of them stuck with it and helped build a team that we feel is a year after year contender in the OVC. You look at those early players when we first got here that helped create a culture and standard of success, which meant so much to our entire coaching staff and really program as a whole. I am thankful for their contributions that helped build a program that competes at a high level both on the field and in the classroom."
The off-field accomplishments during Springthorpe's tenure have been immeasurable, as the Golden Eagles have routinely been at the forefront of the department's academic efforts. Since its inception in the spring of 2016, Tech soccer has been the only club to take home the Golden Wings Awards "Large Academic Team of the Year" honor, determined by the highest percentage of the roster to be included on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
In all seven years as head coach, Springthorpe's teams have captured the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Academic Award behind record-setting success in the classroom. In the fall of 2016, the team had the highest GPA in the history of the program with a cumulative mark of 3.67, before eclipsing that number with a 3.705 cumulative GPA in the spring of 2017, and then again surpassing the program's gold standard in the spring of 2019 with a 3.715 cumulative GPA.
Since Springthorpe has taken the reins of Tech soccer, student-athletes have been selected to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll over 230 times and have been named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll over 80 times. Furthermore, the program's blend of on-field success and academic and community achievements have been on full display with a whole host of individual honors. Three of the last five TTU Woman of the Year awards have been presented to Golden Eagle soccer student-athletes, with Taylor Blazie Bosheers earning the 2016 accolade, while Lauren Brewer was named as the 2018 recipient and Kaitie Shipley in 2020.
Under Springthorpe's watch, Shipley and Abi Gearing were also awarded with the prestigious OVC Scholar Athlete Award, the highest individual honor that can be earned by an OVC student-athlete, given annually to only three men and three women student-athletes for their accomplishments in both the classroom and athletic arena, and because of their leadership qualities.
"When I first arrived at TTU it was my desire to come to a place where I could stay and build something that would be lasting, both professionally and in some ways personally," Springthorpe said. "It is nice to know that I have been able to be here for a number of years, and with the contract extension, can continue to call Cookeville and Tennessee Tech home. In regards to some of the accomplishments like stats, wins and items of that nature, I actually don't keep track of many of those things. Frankly, I don't even know how many wins or losses I have as a head coach in my entire 15-year career. What it has really been about is the players and other coaching staff members throughout my time here. It's an entire team effort and the coaching staff and players should get the credit for the number of games won. I am just happy to be a part of it."
Photo by Thomas Corhern
