Brady Wahl manned the Marquette men’s soccer midfield for two seasons following his transfer from Ohio State. Now, you can find him behind the bench.
Wahl joined coach Louis Bennett’s staff this season as a volunteer assistant. After last season, his four years of NCAA eligibility were up, but because he transferred he still had a year of classes remaining.
“Every time we spoke, I told him, ‘You really should finish (your degree),” Bennett said. “We managed to come up with a plan.”
After a short stint playing professional soccer in Denmark, Wahl decided to return to Marquette to complete his studies. When he was approached by Bennett about a coaching position, he said it was a no-brainer.
“As a player, I had talked about potentially wanting to see how the (coaching) experience would be,” Wahl said.
It has been a few years since Marquette last had a former player join the staff in this manner. Matt Leonard retired from soccer after missing all of the 2010 season, but he stayed with the team as a manager.
Bennett sees Wahl as a great mediator between the coaches and the players. The Marquette coach and his main assistants, Steve Bode and Marcelo Santos, can bounce ideas off Wahl to see how the players would react. Just a year removed from the program, Wahl personally knows many of the players, giving him added insight.
“He will know more about people than we do,” Bennett said. “The NCAA prevents us to get to know our players. Basically, we are around them about 30 percent of the time. There’s a lot more time that they’re with their peers, they’re with their friends, they’re in class that we’ve got nothing to do with. Their friends have a lot more chance to be around them and get to know them.”
Wahl doesn’t just specialize in coaching the midfield, but he helps players at all positions. He and the team’s performance coach Calvin Deutsch work with the players who don’t make the travel roster each match, which is usually around eight to 10 players.
“It’s surprising being a coach and seeing how as a player you are so self-centered because you want to do your job and not let your teammates down,” Wahl said. “You just have to see the big picture at all times, and see the players that fit into that.”
Wahl now gets to see the detailed discussions among the coaches and how much thought goes into every personnel decision.
“A player knows only so much,” Bennett said. “There are certain mechanics that you have to consider as a coach. Brady has stepped over that threshold now, and he’s learning and seeing the mentality of what we talk about, how we don’t just sit around drinking coffee and eating donuts waiting for the next game.”
Not only is Wahl coaching players that were once his teammates, but his friends as well.
“When we’re at practice, it’s less about being friends and more about being a part of a team that has a mission and a goal,” Wahl said. “It’s easy for the guys and for me to separate being friends and also working towards certain things that are important.”
Wahl will be with the Golden Eagles the rest of this season and for spring games second semester. He says he does not have a plan yet for next year.
“I’m still just trying to learn and figure things out,” Wahl said. “College is the time where you try to find what to make your career. This is one of the options that I’m thinking about pursuing.”
