Marquette associate head women's soccer coach Frank Pelaez knows how the process works. He understands head coaches don't hire their assistants based on resumes; they make their decisions based on phone calls just like the one he made months ago to Pittsburgh head women's soccer coach Sue-Moy Chin.

It's who you know and who knows you that gives applicants an edge. In this case, Pelaez knew Chin. The two had crossed paths on the recruiting trail for the past eight years.

Pelaez also knew a qualified soccer coach in search of a team that could use his services, which made answering Chin's most important question quite easy.

"Would you take Barry Bimbi as an assistant on your team?" Chin asked.

"Hell yeah," responded Pelaez.

And so it was that Bimbi, a former assistant coach for the Marquette men's soccer team, was hired as Chin's assistant. He said the main difference between coaching men's and women's soccer is speed. Tactically and technically, the speed of the men's game is much faster, but frankly, he's just happy to be back on the college coaching scene.

After former Marquette head soccer coach Steve Adlard stepped down in November of 2005, Louis Bennett did not keep Bimbi on his coaching staff when he was named Adlard's successor.

Over the next year, Bimbi worked for FC Milwaukee, a local club soccer program. He coached a U15 girls' team that won a state championship, a U16 boys' team that took third place at nationals and a U12 boys' team.

In addition, Bimbi educated FC Milwaukee's high school players on the college recruiting process.

While he enjoyed the experience, it just was not the fix he needed. "I was looking to get back into the college game," Bimbi said. "I was going for anything – men's or women's."

Pelaez said he was often a sounding board throughout the past year for Bimbi, who Pelaez considers a close friend. The two lived only a mile apart, and up to three nights a week, Bimbi and his wife would have dinner with Pelaez and his girlfriend.

After the meal, Pelaez said the girls would watch shows like Grey's Anatomy, while the guys would head to the basement to talk soccer. Pelaez told Bimbi that, yes, the play was slower in the women's game, but the players were more analytical and they would try harder to do what was asked of them.

When the Pittsburgh women's soccer assistant coaching position became available, Bimbi knew it would be a good fit. Both he and his wife are from the Pittsburgh area. Plus, this was his chance to get back in the college game.

But who do you know? Who knows you?

Pelaez provided Bimbi a vote of confidence during his phone call to Chin. "He's trustworthy, and he's loyal," Pelaez said he told Chin. "If you have that on your side, that's 90 percent of the battle trying to find an assistant."

Friday, Bimbi's past and present will intersect for the first time since he left Marquette nearly two years ago. The Golden Eagles will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers at 6 p.m.

As for the Marquette men's team, Bimbi said he's kept an eye on the squad's plight, but he'd "rather not comment on that."

Why bother? For now, he's content to help turn around a Pittsburgh women's team (6-9-1, 1-7-1 Big East) currently in last place in the conference's American Division.

"I'm pretty laid back with the players," he said. "But I work them hard, and they respect that."