The Western men’s soccer program has recruited a new assistant coach for 2015. Conner Moe, 23, is returning to Washington, his home state, from Montana to be an assistant coach for the Vikings this spring.
"It is nice to be back in my home state," Moe said.
Moe graduated from Snohomish High School as a two-sport athlete in soccer and football. Moe attended Bellevue College where he helped his team to the Northwest Athletic Conference Title during his freshman year.
Moe completed his collegiate career at Montana State University Billings. During his time at MSUB, Moe started in 53 out of 54 games. He was named team captain for three years and earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-star honors.
Alex Balog, Moe’s coach at MSUB, expressed high praise for his former star.
"He was someone who would go above and beyond to try to win," Balog said.
Greg Brisbon, head coach for the Vikings, offered Moe the assistant coach position in March after reviewing over 100 applicants. Moe wasted no time accepting the offer.
"I said yes instantly and starting packing that day," Moe said.
Moe comes to Western with some coaching experience under his belt after spending two seasons on the coaching staff at MSUB.
"He is a very good recruiter," Balog said. "He is a very easy-going guy which makes it easy for him to talk to recruits and talk to their parents, which is something I think [Brisbon] will definitely benefit from."
After graduating from MSUB in 2012, Moe was offered a volunteer position as an assistant coach for the 2013 season.
"He is a natural leader. He kinda transitioned into that role I would almost say naturally, because he is a very soccer savvy guy and knows the game very well," Balog said.
After his season as a volunteer assistant coach, Moe was offered a full-time assistant coach position at MSUB for the 2014 season. During his two seasons coaching at MSUB, Moe coached many of his peers and friends.
"He was able to win the guys’ respect right away because he was a standout player for us," Balog said.
To transition from a soccer player on the field to a coach on the sideline is not the easiest change when assistant coaching responsibilities consist of mostly office work and recruiting. Moe said there can still be a strong urge to lace up his cleats again even after becoming an assistant coach.
"[It is] difficult because you're still competitive, and you still want to step on the field and play," Moe said
Moe plans to continue to learn and grow with his coaching skills here at Western. He has high hopes of becoming head coach one day.
"[I need to] learn as much from Greg as I can," Moe said. "He is a great coach, if I can be anything like him, I will be happy."
The Vikings will look to rebound from a down season in 2014 where they went 9-8-1 and missed out on a berth in NCAA Division-II tournament.
