The Georgetown coach helped lead his team to the NCAA championship final.
Georgetown University coach Zach Samol, a native of Longmeadow, works on the sidelines
By DAVID DRIVER
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Zach Samol was playing pro soccer and living on Cape Cod with other players more than 10 years ago when a common question would arise.
“What are we going to do after we stop playing?” said Samol, who grew up in Longmeadow and is a 1994 graduate of Longmeadow High School.
Members of the Cape Cod Crusaders of the D-3 Pro League certainly didn’t pull in salaries close to those of the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics or Bruins. While Samol had a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dartmouth, teaching was not something he had pursued.
“I did not think much about coaching until I was 25 and playing for Cape Cod and the Boston Bulldogs,” he said. “I was up and down with that. I have the Dartmouth degree, and I could do other things.”
Samol was encouraged by coaches to continue playing, but soon after that he landed his first coaching job as an assistant at Boston College under longtime head coach Ed Kelly.
“That is when I realized my passion for the sport,” he said. After two years with the Eagles and four at Yale, Samol became an assistant at Georgetown University in the nation’s capital.
“He was a friend of one of my assistants. That is how we first met,” Kelly said. “He did everything – recruiting, compliance. He did everything that I did. I encouraged him to go to Yale. Yale was a great next step for him.”
This season, Samol’s seventh overall with the Hoyas and first as associate head coach, Georgetown reached the NCAA Division I title game for the first time before falling to annual power Indiana 1-0 in the championship match on Dec. 9 in Hoover, Ala.
Georgetown made it to the title game with a shootout victory over local rival Maryland, which has won two national titles in seven years under Sasho Cirovski.
The Hoyas were honored at halftime of the Georgetown men’s basketball game against Longwood on Dec. 10 at the Verizon Center, home of the Washington Wizards of the NBA.
“It was just a great year,” Samol said. “We have some great senior leaders is what it boils down to. It was not our first recruiting class, but the first one that we felt could make a difference. They led the team. It was a pretty easy team to coach, to be honest with you. Getting to the College Cup is an amazing accomplishment.”
The Hoyas were a Cinderella story this season in college soccer circles, but Samol and head coach Brian Weise, his former teammate at Dartmouth, felt it would be a solid season.
“I am not surprised we were this good. I know there are guys out there who are surprised,” he said.
Samol said the seeds of a special season were sown last spring when the Hoyas played some games in Spain.
“It was that trip that jump-started us,” Samol said. “As a staff we felt we were going to be good.”
Georgetown beat San Diego 4-1 on its home field Dec. 1 in the NCAA tourney to earn a spot in the Final Four. The Hoyas finished the season 19-4-3 overall, 6-2 in the Big East.
“I think they had a little nerves going into the final game,” Samol said of his team.
Samol played baseball, soccer and hockey at Longmeadow, where he attended high school with Jay Heaps, who played at Duke and with the U.S. national team and is now coach of the New England Revolution. His parents, Alex and Harriet, still live in Longmeadow, as does his sister.
Samol was an all-Ivy League player at Dartmouth and played from 1998-2003 with the Connecticut Wolves (A-League), Cape Cod Crusaders (D-3 Pro League),the Boston Bulldogs (A-League) and the Western Mass. Pioneers (D-3 Pro League), where he finished his playing career.
Boston College won the Big East title in 2000 and made the NCAA tourney both seasons. Samol helped Yale to a league title in 2005, its first in 14 seasons, and a berth in the 2005 NCAA tournament – its first since 1999.
Samol said he has been interviewed for head coaching positions at other schools, which he did not name.
“I think the goal is to be a head coach. For me, when the opportunities come I will look at them,” said Samol, who lives in Washington. “I have not been one to push and push and push (for a job). When the right opportunity comes I will go for it.”
“Now he is ready for a (head) job,” Kelly said. “He has served all of his apprenticeships. He has a wealth of experience he can draw from. He has been around three coaches as an assistant. You have to pay your dues.”