Heading into his sophomore year, midfielder Blair Kohlmeyer was excited — no, he was ecstatic. He just knew he was going to start the 2003 season opener versus Denver.

So when Aug. 29 came and Kohlmeyer was not in the starting lineup, he was a little, shall we say, upset.

"I felt I should have started that game," Kohlmeyer said, now a senior. "I was still immature then, so I pouted and didn't play well at all in the first half."

That all changed at halftime when Kohlmeyer was called out by assistant coach Barry Bimbi in front of the entire team.

Calmly, but ever so bluntly, Bimbi informed his young player just how poorly he had played in the first half and then went through options on how to fix Kohlmeyer's mistakes.

Bimbi never yelled. He never shouted. He matter-of-factly told Kohlmeyer that he needed to step up his play.

In the second half, Kohlmeyer scored two goals, and the Golden Eagles won 2-1.

"I'm not a screamer," Bimbi said. "Players don't respond to that."

For the past four years, what Marquette men's soccer players have responded to is an assistant coach who manages to walk the fine line between hard-nosed instructor and endearing friend.

On a recent nine-hour road trip to Columbus, Ohio, Bimbi passed the time by playing cards, watching movies or just joking around with his players.

"Coach Bimbi's very personable, and he's always smiling," said junior forward Matt Blouin. "He relates well to all the guys on the team."

But when it's time to practice, a whole different side of the assistant coach comes out. The smile goes away, and the desire to help his players improve takes over.

For Bimbi, every training session has a specific goal, and if a player is not performing a task correctly, that player certainly is not going to meet the goal.

"When you screw up, (Bimbi) is really calm about it," said junior defender Nathan Sabich said. "He tells you exactly what you did wrong, and then he gives you options so you can come up with a solution to fix the problem."

To Bimbi, it just doesn't make sense to yell at a player.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Bimbi had his fair share of coaches who felt they had to shout to get through to their players. That method just never seemed very effective to him.

Bimbi went on to play collegiate soccer at Saint Francis University, in Loretto, Pa., where he led the Northeastern Conference in scoring as a freshman in 1990 and served as team captain the next three seasons.

He returned to his alma mater, which plays Marquette Sunday at 1p.m. at Valley Fields, as an assistant coach from 1996-2001. Bimbi then moved on to Marquette, where he has instilled the same no-frills approach that he took as a player.

When Bimbi practices with the team, head coach Steve Adlard describes his assistant as "a very, very simple player. He knows what his intent is; there are no fancy moves involved. He just finds a way to score, and the players see that."

The players also take notice during games when they glance over to the sidelines and see their assistant coach, collected and composed as usual.

"After 10 years as a Division I assistant coach, I've seen almost every situation," Bimbi said. "You have to keep your calm, so (the players) keep their focus."

Though the fate of the 2005 squad remains to be determined, Adlard believes the effort of his assistant will help the team reach its goals.

"We will be successful in no small part to (Bimbi's) understanding and work with the players," Adlard said. "His coaching is clearly making a difference, and I'm grateful for that."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 8, 2005.