The men’s soccer team welcomes new head coach Frank Kohlenstein after saying farewell to Ross Duncan.
After nine years of coaching the team with much progress and few achievements, Duncan decided to move on to be closer to his family in Oregon, according to UCASports.com.
Throughout his time as the head coach, Duncan brought much revision and success to the team as he brought the Bears to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017, and led the team to a second appearance in 2018.
Furthermore, he achieved a few titles under his management during the latter years of his time coaching the Bears
Duncan’s staff was named the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2017 and 2018. In 2019 the university moved to the Sun Belt Conference, where Duncan led the team to the regular-season title. A season later, he and his team made their way to the semi-finals of the Sun Belt Tournament, where they ended their run on penalty shootouts.
For Duncan’s replacement, Kohlenstein has quite a few accomplishments in his history of coaching as well.
Kohlenstein’s most recent coaching endeavors took place at Colorado School of the Mines, where he has more wins than any coach in the school’s history, and led his teams to the postseason in 17 of his 19 seasons.
Additionally, Kohlenstein coached at the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and professionally with the Raleigh Flyers and Richmond Kickers. He has a FIFA coaching certificate and a Brazilian coaching certificate, holds an A-license in U.S. Soccer, and is certified by the U.S. Olympic Coaches College
Although he is stepping into his new role of head coach, this won’t be Kohlenstein’s first time at UCA. He previously served in a consultant’s role with the program since 2017 as a friend and associate of Duncan’s.
The relationship with Duncan was one of the reasons that drew his attention to joining the program at UCA.
“I would like to thank Ross Duncan for bringing me into the program and sharing with me just what could be accomplished when everyone works together and believes in each other in reaching toward a common goal,” Kohlenstein told UCA Sports. “The seasons ahead will continue to build on the progress that Ross and his staff laid a foundation for, the program is poised to be a conference and regional power and after that, the sky is the limit.”
Furthermore, the development that Duncan built within the team enticed Kohlenstein to come to coach the Bears.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to continue to be involved with the special group of student-athletes on the purple bears men’s soccer team,” Kohlenstein told UCA Sports. “This group has been taking steps forward and together we are poised to have more progress toward reaching an even higher level. One of the key reasons for wanting to become a full-time part of the program was the draw of these athletes.”
Despite leaving nine years of success behind at UCA, the achievements weren’t what meant the most to Duncan.
“The trophies and championships were, of course, some of the highlights, but the relationships built and experiences together were just as meaningful. While it is difficult to be stepping away from the program as a head coach, I couldn’t be more excited about my new role as number one fan,” he told UCA Sports.