Mike O’Neill Signs Extension as Head Coach of Rutgers Women’s Soccer

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women’s soccer head coach Mike O’Neill has signed an extension to keep him on the sidelines until at least Dec. 31, 2027.
 
O’Neill will enter his 10th season at the helm in 2023 and 24th overall with the program after serving as the Scarlet Knights’ associate head coach from 2004-2013 before taking the reins in 2014. Accumulating an overall record of 127-37-31 (.731), the O’Neill era has been marked by persistent progress and unprecedented success on and off the soccer pitch.
 
The Scarlet Knights will head into the 2023 season after making nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments with O’Neill in the head coach position. That includes the historic 2015 and 2021 seasons that culminated in the program’s only two appearances in the College Cup – NCAA women’s soccer’s Final Four. The 2021 season also featured Rutgers Athletics’ first Big Ten Championship following a perfect 10-0 record in the conference’s regular season. O’Neill was named the Big Ten and ECAC Coach of the Year following that campaign, along with guiding the United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
The team finished 2021 ranked No. 3 in the nation, the highest mark in program history. The historic year was cemented in the record books with new program standards for total wins, goals, assists, points, and winning streak. The momentum continued into 2022, when Rutgers set a program record with nine consecutive wins to start a season while setting another team record with 20 consecutive regular season victories spanning ’21 and ’22.
 
Throughout O’Neill’s tenure at Rutgers, the program has produced 11 MAC Hermann Trophy candidate selections, 13 United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) All-America selections, and 45 United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees. He has also maintained the program’s history of academic excellence and character, with 132 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten laurels in the last nine seasons. Rutgers was named a College Women’s Team Academic Award winner by United Soccer Coaches for the 12th consecutive year in 2021-22.
 
The program has watched O’Neill-coached players hear their names called in seven of the last eight National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) College Drafts. The professional league currently has seven Scarlet Knights competing – Meagan McClelland ’23, Amirah Ali…