From the Ground Up – Eat, Sleep, Play Soccer.

Auburn, ME – Most nights you can catch Kiaran McCormack either watching a soccer or coaching either a training session or a game. Between coaching club soccer for highly rated Seacoast United and providing personal training sessions, McCormack is always by a soccer field. Now he will join the Mustang sideline as the new men's soccer head coach.

McCormack, who is from Kilsaran, Ireland, played Division I soccer at UVM and UMO. He started coaching mostly summer camps while playing at UMO. Immediately after graduating he entered the head coaching world, being named the varsity boys head coach at Hampden Academy. McCormack moved on to coaching MLS camps all over the east coast of the US and eventually found his way back to ME. He got involved in high school athletics by coaching at Gray New Gloucester and Falmouth, as well as college teams at UMF and Thomas College. He immersed himself in the club soccer world coaching for Seacoast United Maine where his teams saw success winning the NPL league title and NEP regional cup.

Now taking over as the head coach at CM, he is excited for the opportunity. When asked about taking over a program McCormack states, "I want to honor the legacy of the program while pushing it forward in a positive direction." He plans on building the program by promoting on and off the field success. On the field, he wants CM to continue to be the top team in the YSCC, and push to win a national title. In the classroom, he wants his players to find academic success so that they can be ready to move to play soccer and to finish their degrees at a 4-year college or enter the workforce after their time at CM.

Last season, the men's soccer team found success on the field by winning the Yankee Conference Championship and earning a bid to the National Tournament. However, this season there will be a lot of new faces on the team and with a new coach to lead them to success on and off the field. Creating a winning culture that involves well rounded student-athletes who are good representations of themselves, the college and their communities is what McCormack is looking forward to most as head coach. He adds, "I also love in game tactics. Adjusting formations, positioning, and focuses. When a team buys in trusts each other and trusts me, great things can happen. I know this can translate into positive results."

For new coaches, recruiting at the college level can be tough. However, McCormack plans on leaning on his connections through Seacoast United, as well as other Maine premier clubs to help him get started. He has also planned on attending local high school summer and fall games. What is he looking for while recruiting? He explained, "I want to recruit a balanced mix of players from Central Maine area and beyond. Finally, I plan to use my international connections in the hope of bringing in some players from a further field."

McCormack is excited for the opportunity to join the Mustang family of coaches, "I can't wait to get going and see where this adventure takes us all." With the season fast approaching, he will be working hard to build his connections with his athletes as quickly as he can. McCormack says, "As soon as I can I want to get in front of as many players as possible, to start building connections with them." He plans on building a foundation with his players by connecting through his playing career and showing that he also experienced a lot of ups and downs throughout the process.

Check out the men's soccer schedule on the CM Athletics website.