Mike O’Neill enters his sixth season as head coach of Rutgers women’s soccer in 2019-20 and 20th year with the program overall. The longtime New Jersey native served as the Scarlet Knights’ associate head coach from 2004-13, now lending his local and national player expertise at the helm of Rutgers as it competes in the Big Ten Conference.
Through his involvement on the New Jersey club soccer scene, O’Neill has helped develop a multitude of regional and national-level players, while his club teams have won numerous national, regional and state titles, in addition to three national championships.
In 2015, O’Neill became the first head coach in Rutgers women’s soccer history to lead the program to the NCAA Women’s College Cup. In addition, he is the first to guide the program to NCAA Tournament berths in each of his first five seasons.
Rutgers has qualified for seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments and reached a conference championship match in three of the last six years. Throughout O'Neill's tenure at Rutgers, the program has produced eight MAC Hermann Trophy candidates, 10 United Soccer Coaches (Formerly NSCAA) All-America selections, and 34 United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees.
The sixth-year head coach has maintained the program’s history of academic excellence and character, with 62 Scarlet Knights earning Academic All-Big Ten laurels in the last five seasons. Rutgers was named a College Women’s Team Academic Award winner by United Soccer Coaches for the eighth consecutive year in 2017.
The program has watched former players get their names called in each of the last four National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) College Drafts. All-Big Ten and All-Region selection, Kenie Wright, became the latest Scarlet Knight to enter the professional ranks, being drafted 29th overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2019. MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and two-time Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, Casey Murphy, was selected 13th overall by Sky Blue FC in 2018. All-Big Ten performers Madison Tiernan and Erin Smith were selected 24th overall (Sky Blue FC) and 33rd overall (Houston Dash), respectively, in 2017.
On a proud day for the program – Jan. 15, 2016 – All-American defenders Erica Skroski and Brianne Reed were picked in the NWSL Draft, becoming the first two Rutgers players in history to be selected into the league. Reed went 18th overall to FC Kansas City, as Skroski was picked 23rd overall by hometown team Sky Blue FC.
Reed and Skroski emerged as national talents while “On the Banks.” Skroski earned NSCAA All-America Second Team laurels as a senior in 2015, with Reed securing NSCAA All-America Third Team laurels in 2014. Both players were First Team All-Big Ten players.
Last season, Rutgers solidified its highest Big Ten finish since joining the league, finishing as runner-up to the regular season title. The lineup produced seven All-Big Ten honorees, the most in program history, a third-straight Big Ten Freshman of the Year recipient, and an All-American.
Rutgers continued to rewrite the record book on numerous occasions in 2017, registering the best goals-against-average (0.267) in a single-season in Rutgers and Big Ten history. The defense claimed the NCAA team statistical titles in GAA and shutout percentage (.762), allowing a program-low and Big Ten-low six goals and posting 16 shutouts.
The Scarlet Knights began reshaping the record books in 2015, setting a new standard for the program. RU won a record 19 matches, advanced to its first College Cup in the program’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament trip, and ended the year ranked No. 4 in the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) Coaches Poll – its highest position ever.
The storybook season included a colossal 7-6 penalty kick shootout victory at No. 1 Virginia in the national quarterfinals to punch the team’s ticket to Cary, North Carolina.
The team’s success in 2015 hinged on its defensive greatness. RU led the NCAA in goals-against average (0.37), shutouts (19), and shutout percentage (.731). All three statistical achievements set single-season RU records.
In his first season leading the program in 2014, O’Neill and his staff guided the Scarlet Knights to a memorable inaugural campaign in the Big Ten Conference, one that included a 13-6-1 record and third consecutive NCAA Tournament trip. Rutgers topped La Salle, 2-0, in the first round at Yurcak Field to advance before being knocked out by national runner-up, Virginia, in the second round of the tourney.
O’Neill, the 2013 NSCAA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, is the Director of Coaching for the Players Development Academy (PDA) in Zarepath, New Jersey, one of the Top Youth Girls Clubs in the Country and two-time ECNL Club National Champions.
O’Neill has identified and developed some of the premiere players in the state and in the country through PDA and his work with ECNL.
A USSF “A” licensed coach who holds a KNVB Dutch International Badge, O’Neill was a member of Seton Hall’s BIG EAST Championship teams in 1987 and 1988, helping the Pirates reach the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight each of those years. In 1984, O’Neill earned the Coggins Award, emblematic of the top high school player in New Jersey, while leading Kearny High School to a state championship and a number-one national ranking.
O’Neill graduated from Seton Hall University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. A native of Kearny, New Jersey, he currently resides in New Egypt with his wife, Rachel, and their children, Madelyn, Kylie and Michael.
