Lehigh University Athletics
Home Sweet Home
10/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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Players come and go in college athletics. They only have four years of eligibility, and then they move on to the next phases of life. However, for Dean Koski, there are two players he just can’t seem to get rid of.
It was the middle of August 1992, and Michael Benn remembers taking the field for his first Lehigh practice in 95 degree heat. The student-athletes had to complete four fitness tests on that first day of training. They would run a mile in less than 5:30, run a 400 yard dash in less than a minute, complete a pushups test and finish with sit-ups.
“I know I vomited,” Benn said. “And so did the guy next to me, and a few others down the line.”
But Koski wasn’t done with the newest Lehigh players just yet. They had to regroup quickly and go for a 25-minute run through the cornfields on Goodman Campus before that intense first day was finally over.
Benn wasn’t scared away by the torturous practice. He came back every day for four years as a player. He would come back again as a graduate assistant when his playing days were over. And he would come back once again as an assistant head coach for the Mountain Hawks.
Michael O’Connell came back as well. He was a senior on that sweltering August day in 1992, just one year away from starting a career as an accountant. But O’Connell couldn’t stay away from Lehigh for long, as he returned two years later to be a graduate assistant.
For Koski, having two of his former players as assistant coaches has been essential to his long-term success at Lehigh
“I think it’s invaluable, because we all can draw from experiences we had in the coach/player relationship,” Koski said. “They certainly understand my personality better as a coach having played for me, and I think that has great value now that they are colleagues.”
Unlike O’Connell, Benn knew he wanted to be a coach right after graduation. He took a graduate assistant position at Lehigh in 1996, becoming Koski’s colleague shortly after being one of his players.
Benn earned his MBA from Lehigh in 1998, which marked the end of his term as graduate assistant. There were no full-time assistants for the men’s soccer program at the time, so Benn set out to find another job. He wound up at
Koski and Benn kept in touch throughout his time at
Before the 2005 season, Koski had the opportunity to hire a full-time assistant for the first time in the program’s history, so he called Benn to see if he knew anyone who would be interested.
“I may have surprised him by saying I was certainly interested,” Benn said. “This is just such a special place for me. The relationships that I’ve established here as a student, as a graduate assistant and now back here again just make this place home. This is where I’ve met some of the best friends of my life and where I’ve had some of the most important experiences of my life to help shape me into the man I am today.”
Lehigh is also home for O’Connell, who earned his master’s degree in education 1998. While O’Connell has gone on to become a math teacher at
“Lehigh in general just pulled me back in based on the experiences I had here,” O’Connell said. “Every situation I encountered here enriched my connection with the school and the area.”
Koski said the way the three coaches fit together has been essential to them staying together so long. Benn brings the intensity on a day-to-day basis, shouting out instructions and encouragement to the players. Koski is a little more laid back, strategizing and adjusting to the circumstances in front of him. O’Connell, Koski said, falls in between the two, but has the ability to play either role when necessary.
More importantly for Koski, both of his coaches can play the role of the middleman between him and the players.
“I think that they both connect very well with the players in ways that, sometimes, a head coach can’t,” Koski said. “If players have any concerns, frustrations, or questions that they’re not ready to approach the head coach with, they know they can go to those two with a level of confidence and trust.”
The three men have developed a bond in their time together as teammates, colleagues and friends. They spend countless hours together on the field, but they also find time to spend time together off the field. They have grown so close that Benn asked O’Connell to be a part of his wedding this past summer.
And when O’Connell’s car broke down earlier this month, it was Koski who came to give him a ride home. Even then, the two could not stop chatting about the team and its upcoming games.
“Having that personal connection to me is more important to me than that professional connection,” Koski said. “Both Mikes are like brothers to me; we’ve known each other that long. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other. So on a personal level, having them connected to my life, my children’s lives and my wife’s life is huge.”
But that connection is not just between a coach and two of his players. It’s a connection felt by many of the talented athletes that have shared a field with Koski. More than 40 players turn out for the men’s soccer alumni game every year, and Benn said it’s no coincidence that many of them played for the program in Koski’s 17 years as head coach.
“Players aren’t going to come back for a one day event, some of them from great distances, unless they feel a real connection to this program,” Benn said. “And I think that that’s one of Dean’s biggest legacies he’s left here for this program.”
