Steve Small was named the 12th men’s soccer head coach in Slippery Rock University history on May 4, 2016.
Small coached The Rock to a 5-10-3 overall record and a 3-6-2 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play during his second year in 2017. SRU battled with all of its opponents and was one of the top defensive units in the conference leading the league in save percentage and, was fifth in goals allowed and goals against average. Small also proved to be an important tutor for All-PSAC performers George Oakley and Patrick Sullivan.
There was recognition in the classroom as well as Kenton Keeslar earned USC Men's Scholar All-Region honors and CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 2017.
In his first season at SRU, Small guided The Rock to a 5-9-2 record, which included a 4-5-2 mark in PSAC play. Slippery Rock was competitive in nearly all of its contests as six of The Rock’s losses came by just one goal. SRU just missed out on qualifying for the conference tournament, but ended the year with two straight wins to head into the offseason with great momentum.
Before coming to Slippery Rock, Small was an assistant under head coach Steve Widdowson at Millersville from 2007-15. He played a pivotal part in the program's rise to perennial NCAA and PSAC contender status over the last nine seasons.
While at Millersville, Small helped lead the Marauders to an impressive 113-57-11 record. In his time at MU, the Marauders qualified for the PSAC Tournament eight times, won one conference title, earned five NCAA Tournament berths and won two regional championships. In 2011, Millersville advanced to the national semifinals.
Small served as a scout and an assistant coach for two years at Elizabethtown College prior to his appointment at Millersville. In his two seasons at Elizabethtown, the Blue Jays went 25-9-5 and won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in 2006.
His coaching career is not just limited to the college game. Small has coached within the Lititz Youth Soccer Club since the age of sixteen. He has since had coaching stints with F.C. Millennium, Leeds United, Ephrata High School and with the Penn Legacy Soccer Club for four years.
A 2006 graduate of DeSales University, Small earned his bachelor's degree in sport management. He was a three-year starter on the men's soccer team at DeSales.
Small holds a National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Diploma.
| Steve Small's Coaching Record |
| Year |
W |
L |
T |
Win % |
| 2016 |
5 |
9 |
2 |
.375 |
| 2017 |
5 |
10 |
3 |
.361 |
| Career |
10 |
19 |
5 |
.368 |
