TAYLOR SCHLOEMER | THE SPECTRUM
North Dakota State introduced Michael Regan as the new women’s soccer coach. Regan, a former Indiana assistant coach, will take the helm after the resignation of former coach Mark Cook in November.
It is the second collegiate head-coaching job for Regan, 33, but this one came a little more orthodox than the first.
Following his time as a player at North Iowa Area Community College, he took over from his former coach Colin Murphy, who was a lawyer by day.
“He got busy with his practice so we reversed roles,” Regan said. “That’s where I started my journey, and it’s where it was meant to be.”
So, at age 20, he took the helm for the Trojans. Over the course of five years, he complied a 74-17-6 record.
Following his time at North Iowa, Regan became an assistant at Drake. In 2015, he helped the Bulldogs to a Missouri Valley championship and the coaching staff was named MVC Coaching Staff of the Year.
While at Drake, Regan caught sight of what was happening with the growing program in Fargo.
“I think from my time at Drake, I always knew from afar this place had high standards,” Regan said. “One, the institution was growing and athletically it was growing. I went to Indiana and the Bison footprint continued to grow. When I got here, I was taken aback by the vision.”
Regan has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Indiana. The Hosiers went 13-18-8 in those two seasons in a very tough Big Ten Conference.
Regan inherits a team that lost only a pair of seniors from last season. This youthful squad is something that he would like to develop.
“One thing I am very passionate about is developing players, individually, collectively, in our lines. And it is a great time to do that in the spring and then get after it in the fall.”
As for the on-field product, Regan outlined his philosophy. “I am a coach that wants the ball; I want to possess the ball more than the opposition,” Regan said. “I want my team to play out of the back, but good teams know how to adjust.”
Last season, the Bison often found themselves pinned back defensively. While no official possession stat is kept, NDSU rarely dominated possession.
This led to the Bison’s struggles to put the ball in the net. NDSU was shut out in nine of 19 games last season, including the first seven. When Summit League play came around, the Bison found the back of the net more regularly, leading to a trip to the Summit League final.
When asked how to get a more consistent flow of goals, Regan noted, “It comes down to this time of year, whether there was lack of confidence in front of goal, you got to put that right.”
The Bison’s 2018 schedule has not been officially released as of yet, but games usually start around mid to late August.