Raised on military bases in Europe, LSU soccer coach Brian Lee did not have the same idols growing up as American children his age. “Growing up in England and Scotland, most of my memories have to do with following the [soccer] leagues there,” Lee said. “Growing up, I always imitated Glenn Hoddle. He was my first idol along with Kenny Dalglish and Kevin Keegan and all of the big Liverpool players of the ’70s.” Lee said his love for the European club Liverpool remains strong even today, watching the team as often as he can while balancing his coaching and recruiting duties as the Tigers’ coach. Back in America as a teenager, Lee enrolled at Furman University where he played from 1989 to 1992, graduating with a political science degree in 1993. Despite his playing days coming to an end, Lee said he always knew he would remain in the game as a coach. “I realized long before [graduation] that I wanted to be a coach,” Lee said. “When I was about a sophomore in high school, my high school coaches started to talk to me about it and I thought it was something I’d be good at and it’s really something I always wanted to do. “As a player, I was always interested in execution and teaching people to get better,” Lee said. Lee said Title IX, which expanded the number of universities with women’s soccer programs, was the reason he decided to become a coach in the women’s game. “About the time I graduated, Title IX was passed, which changed the number of women’s programs from approximately 30 teams to somewhere around 300 universities with a program,” he said. Lee took over his alma mater in 1994 as a 23-year-old, barely older than most of his players. He guided Furman to a 144-80-10 record, including a 76-16-3 conference record to go with four NCAA Tournament appearances in 11 seasons. Lee led the Lady Paladins to undefeated conference records three different seasons, making him one of the most highly touted young coaches in the country when he accepted the coaching position at LSU in 2004. “It’s difficult to leave your alma mater,” Lee said. “But I talked to my family and decided to move on, primarily because I was ready for a new challenge, and there is no bigger challenge in my opinion than LSU.” Lee took over a soccer program that had little expectations, qualifying for the conference tournament twice in the nine years of the program before Lee took over. But this season, Lee has the Tigers off to a 7-1-3 record, the best start in school history. “I have a lot of respect for LSU coach Brian Lee,” Houston coach Susan Bush said following her team’s 0-0 tie against LSU on Sept 16. “He has done a really fine job building their program to a high level.” Despite also having the respect of his colleagues across the country, Lee has also gained the respect of players across the country, landing four top-50 recruiting classes at Furman and a top-10 class in 2006 at LSU. Lee said he credits his ability to recruit to the luxury he has coaching at a state with only one major athletic university. “[Being the only major university] is huge,” Lee said. “When there is a great player inside Louisiana, the chances are very good that they will want to play for LSU very badly.” Sophomore Melissa Clarke said she appreciates playing for Lee because he allows his players to enjoy playing the game. “Coach Lee always has us prepared to play, and it’s fun to play when things are going well,” she said, Living on military bases and 13 years of coaching experience have Lee used to traveling around the world, but the 35-year-old said he would like to stay in Baton Rouge for a long time. “I love the college game because I love the teaching aspect,” Lee said. “The recruiting at LSU is great, and the competition is great, so I hope to be here as long as I can.” The Tigers began conference play this past weekend, going 1-0-1. LSU returns to action this weekend with a priority-point match Friday against No. 9 Tennessee and another home match against No. 21 Georgia on Sunday. Lee said he believes his team can win the conference championship. “There is so much parity this year,” he said. “There are eight to 10 teams that realistically can win the championship outright and a lot of that has to do with good coaching hires. I hope one of those good hires was at LSU.”
—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]