New interim head coach Devin Rensing will inherit a Stevens team well prepared for its Empire 8 title defence in 2011. The team will begin the year ranked 21st in the nation and has been picked to with the Empire 8 Conference for the fifth-straight season.
"Devin is the perfect fit for our men's soccer program at this important time," said Stevens director of athletics Russell Rogers. "He has achieved tremendous success in his coaching career and demonstrated a thorough understanding of the game of soccer and the ability to communicate this knowledge to his players. Most importantly, Coach Rensing knows how to strike the balance between a challenging academeic curriculum and being a highly competitive student-athlete to ensure that our young men maximize their college experience."
Rensing comes to Castle Point from Harvard University, where he was the assistant coach for the past six months. Prior to joining the Crimson, he was the assistant at Colgate University.
In his last season at Colgate, Rensing helped guide the Raiders to an undefeated record in Patriot League play and a top-25 national ranking. The team was ranked fifth in the final regular-season Mid-Atlantic National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Poll.
The Raiders were ranked in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region poll all season, reaching the No. 1 spot for two consecutive weeks on Sept. 26 and Oct. 5, during which the team was also ranked No. 24 nationally (on the week of Oct. 5). Colgate went 5-0-2 in conference play, winning the 2010 Patriot League Regular Season title.
Rensing again played an integral role in leading the Raiders to their second consecutive conference tournament title in 2008, earning Colgate another bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2007, he helped the Raiders capture the Patriot League Championship for the second time in program history and earn their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1966.
In total, Rensing won four Patriot League titles with Colgate, including back-to-back championship seasons in 2007 and 2008. He helped to mold over a dozen All-Patriot League selections and the Raiders posted an overall record of 37-26-11 with a splendid 18-5-5 Patriot League mark in that time.
Rensing came to Colgate from the University of Central Arkansas, where he was the assistant men’s soccer coach during the 2006-07 academic year. He helped the Bears make the transition from Division II to Division I, earning a 6-8-2 mark in their first season at the top tier. Rensing was in charge of travel arrangements, scouting opponents, game tape breakdown, recruitment, and helped plan and run practices.
He spent 2005-06 as an assistant coach at Loyola University Chicago, where he was in charge of conditioning, travel, training goalkeepers, and organizing specific alumni events.
Rensing transferred to Eastern Illinois University in 1999 from Forest Park Community College. He played for the Panthers for two seasons, earning third-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors as team captain. Rensing graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Rensing has worked with the Arkansas Olympic Development Program since February 2006, acting as head coach of the ’94 boys state team.
He has also been head coach of the Chicago Attack and Charleston Panther soccer clubs. In 2006, he was head coach of the Attack’s U-13 boys team and in 2001, he was head coach of the Panther’s U-11 boys team.
