University of Connecticut Athletics
Alumni Spotlight: Men’s Soccer, Chris Gbandi
10/1/2024 12:16:00 PM | General
Men's Soccer Head Coach Chris Gbandi '02
UConn looked within its own ranks when the time came to name a successor to former legendary head coach Ray Reid in 2022. Athletic Director David Benedict tabbed one of the program's greatest players to take on that task when naming former Husky Chris Gbandi the ninth head coach in team history.
Returned to his alma mater after guiding the Northeastern soccer program for six seasons. A four-year letterwinner for UConn from 1998 through 2001, Gbandi won the 2000 Hermann Trophy after leading the Huskies to the program's third National Championship. He was a three-time All-American, three-time BIG EAST Defender of the Year, the 1998 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and a four-time first team All-BIG EAST pick.
Entering his third season at the helm, Coach Gbandi took some time to look back on his playing and coaching career.
When you were going through the recruiting process and deciding where you would play your college soccer, what was it that drew you to UConn?
I think it was probably the passion of the soccer fans and soccer community at UConn. During my visit up here and seeing some of the videos of the time they played St. John's in I think it 1997 when they played, and I came in 1998, just seeing how packed the stadium was and how excited people were about soccer. I went to some other places, and there were three, four hundred people in the stands and you look here and there is thousands. So yeah, the passionate fans for sure. Then also the basketball programs, who were doing pretty good at that time. Growing up in Houston, the only thing I knew about UConn was seeing basketball on TV. Those were the two biggest reasons I came up here.
You helped lead UConn to the program's third National Championship in 2000. What do you remember most about that 2-0 win over Creighton in the title game?
I remember how nervous we were going into it. The year before we lost in the semifinals at the Final Four and we knew that following year we had the entire team coming back. We just put so much effort into it and it was more relief after we won it than anything else. I just remember how nervous and how important that game was for us to win it and leave something behind. We had such a good group, and we wanted people to remember us.
After your playing days at UConn, you played professionally for eight seasons in the MLS and internationally, what did you take from that experience and your time at UConn as you made the transition into coaching?
I think what I took was how important working hard was. Being on a team here in college where we had so many good players and then going to the professional ranks where there are even better players. I took the mentality that you have to work hard to earn your spot. When I went into the professional ranks, it wasn't anything far-fetched to say I need to work harder than the person next to me. I was already doing that in college thanks to the culture that Coach (Ray) Reid created. That's the biggest thing I took, is hard you have to work to get what you wanted, and I think that UConn set me up great for that.
How has college soccer or the college soccer player changed from when you were a player?
I think the biggest thing with players now is there is a focus on after college. When I was playing, UConn was the biggest thing, and I wanted to win a national championship and make sure my brothers and teammates were happy with how I was playing. I think a lot of players that come in now that are already skipping college in their mind – I need to be a pro, I need to be pro. I think that has put a lot of challenges in front of coaches but then there is some positive as well. You are getting a lot of different types of players, and probably a lot of players who are ready quicker than I was. So, I think the mentality of looking beyond college and not really enjoying their experience while they are here, I think that has changed quite a bit from my time to now.
If you could go back and talk your former self as a freshman getting ready to start school, what would you tell them about UConn in 2024?
UConn is possibly a sleeping giant. UConn has a lot of growth potential, and I think for us, how do we find a way to get to that sooner rather than later. I would tell myself it takes a lot of hard work, but the opportunity is there to have this place be dominant for years to come.
