K-State Introduces New K-State Soccer Head Coach Colleen Corbin

MANHATTAN, Kan. - K-State Athletics publicly introduced the second head soccer coach in program history, Colleen Corbin, on Thursday in the Steel and Pipe Team Theater in the Vanier Family Football Complex. Below is a transcript of the press conference with K-State Director of Athletics Gene Taylor and coach Colleen Corbin.

GENE TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
Opening statement…
"Good morning everybody. We want to just thank everybody for being here, first of all, [University] President [Richard] Linton, thank you for being here. I told Colleen, there's not a lot of presidents of universities that come to almost every press conference, I think that since you've been here, so really appreciate that very much. Before we get started, I got a couple of thank yous, Jill Shields and Matt Thomason helped us, lead us, through this search and I appreciate their efforts, so thank you guys very much. Katy Young Staudt, with our search firm, Turnkey[ZRG], was great and really pounding the pavement to find us great candidates. And speaking of that, we really, really had top candidates apply for this position. That's one of the things that doesn't amaze me, but it just kind of continues to warm my heart, the interest in K-State Athletics and the interest of our athletic program. The quality of candidates that we had an opportunity to interview were really high level and so that's good news. Bad news is you got to go through those and figure out, okay, who's the best fit for us at K-State and Colleen continued to rise to the top after several interviews and she brings, I tell you what, if you haven't figured it out, she's going to bring a lot of energy and passion to this program. I also want to thank our soccer ladies, I told them on the Zoom call when we introduced Colleen for the first time, change is hard for a program, but how they've handled themselves and how they've worked through it, for young people, it's not easy. There's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of questions going on in their mind, the season just ended. So I appreciate and want to thank all of you for how you've handled this and how you represented K-State and how you continue to represent K-State. I also want to thank [assistant coach] Jaycie Ackerman and the staff to kind of keep running things during the interim, again, not an easy task, but appreciate you guys for all your support and all your support staff, so couldn't thank you guys enough. But let's get back to Colleen, her husband, Nick, is not here unfortunately, when you get a chance to meet Nick, they're a great couple. They really support each other very, very well and I'll let Colleen talk about Nick's future here for six months. Colleen brings a lot of energy and passion, like I said, she's got a great soccer background. Everywhere she's been, she's been a winner. And to me that's important, whether she was a winner while she was a goalie at Oregon State, at a program that hadn't been in the NCAA tournament, they went there several times, to an assistant coach, to a head coach at Wyoming, where she won a conference championship in her second year, and this past year as Associate Head Coach at St Louis, where she was part of a program that went to the NCAA tournament, faced the number one seeded team in USC and took them to over time and unfortunately lost by penalty kicks. So everywhere she's been, she's established a winner. And one of the things that you're going to find out about her is the amount that she cares for student-athletes. She's going to challenge them, she's going to want to make them better. But I tell you what, I think our program is going to be better under her leadership. And so with that, it's my pleasure to introduce you our next head soccer coach, Colleen Corbin."

COLLEEN CORBIN, HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Thank you everyone for being here. Team, good to see you, thanks for being here. You know, one of the reasons that this job was so appealing to me is the community and the support and the belief, that it was apparent to me as an outsider, that this program has and so seeing you guys all here today, just I'm grateful, I appreciate you guys taking the time. I'm grateful to Gene, Jill, Matt, I know there was a lot of effort and intention in this search and I just appreciate you guys considering me and going through the process and I'm thrilled to be here and excited to get started. Happy to answer whatever questions we got. Yeah, happy to be here, thank you guys."

On how she got the call offering her the job as head coach at K-State…
"This is actually a really funny story. I had interviewed the Monday, Tuesday before Thanksgiving and my husband and I, Nick, went to the Ozarks for the Wednesday, Thursday of Thanksgiving and I just stared at my phone for 48 hours. On Thanksgiving, I assumed he [Gene] wasn't going to call, the Friday that we got back, there was a piece of metal hanging down from our [Toyota] 4Runner. And Nick, my husband, asked me to take it to the auto body shop, so I did and got horrible news that it was the strap that holds our fuel tank to the car that was broken. Turns out it was going to be a whole bunch of money and a lot of time and energy and so Friday morning I was not in a great place and Gene called. He said, 'coach, how you doing?' And I said, 'I am not well actually, but I appreciate your call.' And he said, 'well, I'm really sorry. I'd like to ask you a question, would you like to be the new head women's soccer coach at K-State?' And I said, 'yes, absolutely. I'm thrilled.' [Gene: Thank God I didn't tell you you didn't get the job]. Truly, I did tell you to just not call me if that was the case. But I was ecstatic. I had pulled over on the side of the road, I knew I needed to lock in for that moment. Like I said, I had been staring at my phone for three days waiting for that call. So I'm thrilled to be here, again, so grateful for the opportunity. It'll be a funny story for me to tell for a long time, so happy to be here."

On her first steps in the job after being hired…
"I mean, the first step for me was getting with the girls. Like Gene said, this has been an anxiety filled couple of weeks. These young women did not sign up for me, they signed up for something else and so I appreciate you guys sticking around and getting it out, because they are what's going to make this thing go, right. Same with the recruits that are coming in, the [20] 25's and 26's, reaching out to them was important, making sure that they knew who I was and what my vision was, because for me, this is about people. So you know, that was priority number one, all the other things, scheduling, budget, all the things you could come up with, equipment, that's all periphery. And luckily, we're at a phase, going into a phase right now, where the staff and I will have time to kind of sift through that stuff before we get back in the spring and really hone in on mentality, soccer, what that is going to look like, what it's going to feel like. But for me, right now, priority number one was these young women and then we'll go from there. So we got a bunch of individual meetings today and tomorrow and Saturday, looking forward to hearing their stories and what their vision for the program is and what they're hoping to get out of these next few months and heading into next fall and then we'll get to work in January."

On what can be appealing about K-State to recruits…
"I mean, from a soccer standpoint, these facilities are some of the best in the country. So when you walk in as a young person, I think you see and you believe that there are people here that care about this program and want it to be successful. So that's a huge resource for us as a staff. You know, I love a good college town. Going to school in Corvallis, Oregon, working in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Laramie, Wyoming, I think that a college town provides a really unique opportunity for student-athletes and also for coaches, to have a community, a group of people that really believe in who you are and what you're doing. It plays a huge role in their mentality, the belief, knowing that there are people that are behind you that want you to be successful is huge, and sometimes, when you're in a different environment, you might not get that. And so, you know, I think the administration has done an incredible job of setting the program up for success, again, from a resources, facilities, funding standpoint and now it's about getting the community to believe in these young women and what we're going to try to do. But again, as a recruit, I can see why these ladies chose to come to K-State."

On what she thinks of when she thinks of family…
"Family is in your corner, no matter what, right. Family has your back, no matter what. And in athletics, you know, there's some really high highs and there's some really low lows and creating an environment where everyone within our locker room believes that each one of their people has their back, staff included, is incredibly important to me. I'm not going to have my best day every day, they're not going to have their best day every day. And we have to trust and believe that everyone still has the same goal and the same vision in mind and that's what family means to me. So for us, as we continue to build the culture and build the legacy that we'll leave, that's going to be a huge priority for us."

On what she thinks when she hears K-State head coach…
"This feels fake. It's so surreal. And you know, I said earlier, I am not oblivious to how special this opportunity is. I'm not naive to the opportunity that us women are going to have to create something special. And you know, yesterday, we were running around, staff and I, just ideas, things, like floating around everywhere and it felt a little chaotic. And so when I woke up this morning, I wanted to be really intentional about being grateful and being present and enjoying it, because this is, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And again, there is so much potential that lies ahead for us and I'm so honored to be here and I didn't want to look back a week from today and have this feel like a blur. So again, I'm so grateful for everyone being here and believing in these young women and believing in me and I'm excited to get started, but it is, it's surreal and I'm just really happy to be here."

On what stands out about the facilities…
"I think, even last night, we brought in Qdoba for the girls, just to, you know, make it feel a little more casual and not so stressy. Just sit and have dinner, I think food brings people together. But the fact that there is space for that to happen, you know, for us to bring food in and there's couches. And I said to Jaycie, I was like, 'oh my God, are those blankets in the corner? That's so nice.' But there's a space that makes it feel like home, I think is important. The fueling area, the kitchen, I think the training room space is incredible, the recovery space is incredible. And to have it all be in the same building, just for our women, is so unique. And then the fact that our offices are within that building and they don't have to seek us out, I think makes it a lot easier for us to have a dynamic and a relationship that will just help foster those spaces. So there's a lot, the boot room is really cool, that's not a space that exists in a lot of facilities. So it's special pockets in that building, absolutely."

On the feeling of competing in the Big 12 Conference…
"I mean, what an incredible conference. In women's soccer in particular, there's a lot of growth, there's a lot of upper trajectory. There are coaches that have been in that conference for a long time and have, you know, some perennial powerhouse programs. And then there are some that are new and maybe trying to break into that, you know, top tier scene. So it's exciting to think about, again, getting the right combination of culture, mentality, soccer, putting it together and belief, right. Like you gotta believe, you gotta believe it's possible, you gotta believe that you can do it. And I think if you get that right, there's a lot of cool opportunities lying ahead for us in this conference. So again, it's obviously one of the best in the country and we're going to make noise, I feel really confident in that."

On what excites her about being in charge of the program…
"I mean, it's not so much about being in charge, I guess, it's more about having an opportunity to take all of the experiences that I've been fortunate enough to have as a player, as a coach, and put it all together to create what what K-State is going to be, what K-State soccer is going to be. You know, one head coach, I don't think makes a program, right. And I think I'm fortunate to have had lots of mentors, leaders who have poured into me. I will ask of my staff, of the girls, you know, I told them last night, this is their program. It's their program. And again, it's not going to go unless they want it to go. And it's my job to lead. It's my job to pave the path forward, but they have to buy in and they have to want the things that we're going to strive for. So I'm excited to be in a position to, you know, kind of set a stage and offer, you know, when my parents used to talk about it is, like guidelines, if anyone's ever been to Autopia in Disneyland, there's like a car ride and there's guardrails, and, like, we're going to set those right, we're going to set those guardrails and we're going to talk about what it needs to look like within these guidelines and then it's going to turn into something special. And there's no magic formula, but I'm excited, like I said, to be able to take all these experiences and then create an environment for these young women to thrive in."

On if she feels more equipped coming from a Midwest school in St. Louis…
"I think the Midwest was kind of the only part of the country I hadn't really lived in before I went to St Louis. And there's an incredible soccer community in the Midwest that I think is pretty unique. And from a recruiting standpoint, from a support standpoint, again, there's real buy in and real belief. I think knowing the landscape more now after having been to St Louis is going to be helpful, for sure, and just making connections with other coaches, high school club, it's going to help make our forward momentum easier, just because of the relationships that we have now and the people that will be behind us."

On what will be the biggest challenge as a first year coach…
"There will be a lot, right, there's going to be a lot of challenges. I think it's going to be staying the course, right. It's going to be believing in our vision and believing in what we want to achieve and knowing that when we do hit roadblocks and when we do face adversity, that the wheels aren't falling off, the house is not on fire, the ship is not sinking like we're going to be okay, as long as we approach it the right way and we have the right mentality and belief in one another to show up and be our best selves the next day."

On her goals for the spring season…
"I think the goals for the spring season are really to figure out who we are, right. I mean, it's not, like I said, it's not about me showing up and telling you who you are. It's about me showing up and giving you space to be the best version of yourself and then we got to figure out how to put those pieces together to win, right. So again, creating space for everyone to bring their own individual talents and personalities and let that shine and then put that puzzle together and see what we got. And then again, pushing each other to be uncomfortable, doing things that maybe don't feel comfortable. And growing because that's the only way, it's the only way all of us are going to get better is if we do things that make us uncomfy. So I'm excited about it, it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be hard. It's gonna be fun."

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Soccer, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Introduces New K-State Soccer Head Coach Colleen Corbin

Related Videos