Trotting onto the pitch this year, Terrapin men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski will find himself accompanied by several new faces.
In less than a month following the 2009 season, Cirovski saw both of his assistant coaches leave to take jobs elsewhere.
Russell Payne, who spent six seasons under Cirovski’s tutelage, landed the head coaching job at Army in mid-December. Payne was Cirovski’s first blue-chip recruit for the Terps back in 1993 and went on to be a four-year starter in goal.
Just two days later, Cirovski’s other assistant coach, Rob Vartughian accepted the assistant coach/goalkeeper coordinator position with the Philadelphia Union of the MLS. Vartughian had spent the previous seven years with the Terps.
The pair of assistants helped lead the Terps to two ACC Championships, four College Cup appearances and two National Championships.
Following the departures, Cirovski went searching. He found Michael Dello-Russo and Brian Rowland. He also created another staff position called Director of Soccer Operations, hiring Matt Burke for the job.
“I got all three guys that I wanted,” Cirovski told Jonas Shaffer of the Diamondback. “They’re all ones I wanted and we didn’t have to go too deep into the search. They’re great. They’re terrific. They’re all relatively inexperienced in the coaching ranks, but I feel like it’s a perfect fit for the program myself because I can mold them into the Maryland way pretty quickly. They’ve already done a great job and the players love them.”
Here’s the description of each and what they will bring to the Terp in the 2010 season:
