After leading the University of Charleston men's soccer team to the NCAA Division II national championship game in two of the last three seasons, Chris Grassie has been named the next coach of the Marshall men's soccer team.
"It was great to be around such a great group of guys and we achieved so much in the six years I was at Charleston," Grassie said. "Building those relationships and bringing that culture of excellence where we were perennially one of the best teams in Division II was a rewarding experience I'll never forget as we laid the foundation for long-term success."
The native of Newcastle upon Tyne in England got his coaching start at the Division I level with the Thundering Herd, serving as a graduate assistant for former coach Bobby Gray from 2004-06 before taking an assistant coaching job at the University of Michigan and eventually becoming the head coach at UC in 2010.
He'll take over for Gray, who retired from his post at Marshall after 22 seasons and 190 wins with the Thundering Herd.
"It's a really cool opportunity. Marshall was my first Division I program I worked at and it was the first puzzle I ever played with thinking about what I could do there if I ever got to become a head coach," Grassie said. "I learned a lot from Bobby and he's been a great supporter of mine throughout my career, who has always been willing to help me with anything. So I hope I can do him proud and improve on what he's built there and start to compete to win some championships and make it a successful new chapter."
During his time at UC, Grassie became the school's winningest coach in program history - compiling a record of 99-20-8 - and won a conference championship in all six of his seasons at the helm while making three consecutive trips to the Division II national semifinals.
"We are fortunate to have found a coach with this amount of success," Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick said. "We are excited to have someone who has competed for championships, who has played professionally and has developed professionals. He has a degree from Marshall and he lived in Huntington and wanted to come back and be part of the Thundering Herd family. That makes this a perfect fit."
While Grassie was an assistant at Michigan, the Wolverines won the Big Ten championship in 2010 and appeared in the College Cup, losing in the national semifinals to eventual national champion Akron. Under his direction at UC, the Golden Eagles produced six All-Americans and had three players sign professional contracts.
The University of Charleston will now begin its search for a new coach with Grassie's departure from the school. UC athletic director Bren Stevens said the school will be open to conducting a national search for its new coach, but also emphasized that members of the current coaching staff like Dan Stratford will receive strong consideration for the position.
Stevens applauded Grassie for his service to UC as he spent his time building the program into one of the premier Division II programs in the country.
"Chris is a brilliant coach and he did an outstanding job as our men's soccer coach. I was impressed with his ability to recruit globally and nationally and he's a tremendous guy who I hate to lose but have no doubt will do a tremendous job at Marshall," Stevens said.
"Dan Stratford is someone we're interested in talking with when he gets back to town on Thursday. We're looking for someone who is ambitious and wants to keep us at this level - it's going to be exciting to be part of this program. We haven't gotten into the details yet, but at this time I'm open to a national search as well as being very interested in looking at the people we have now who are associated with our program."
Grassie gave a resounding endorsement for Stratford as his replacement, emphasizing how important it is for Charleston to keep its momentum going as it continues to climb the ladder in Division II as a national powerhouse.
"I hope Dan Stratford gets it and is more successful than I was and wins a national championship. Everything is ripe for it at UC. There are great players, a great AD, a great staff. It's a great school," Grassie said. "It'll all come down to Bren ultimately of course, but when things are going well, I think it works to promote from within and help maintain this culture. Dan has been working toward a head coaching job because he's ready and he wants the challenge."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.