Jay Heaps is only just starting out on his young coaching career with the New England Revolution, but he has plenty of supporters in his former coaches.Brian Ainscough was right in his assessments about newly named New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps as a player in the past. Now fans of the Revs will be hoping the Northeastern Huskies men’s soccer coach’s good judgment continues in his beliefs about Heaps as a coach.
Ainscough coached Heaps at the club level when the Massachusetts native played for the FC Greater Boston Bolts. The former Irish youth international knew Heaps had what it takes to be a successful professional player and wasn’t the least bit surprised by the career Heaps had.
“He was special,” said Ainscough. “His competitiveness back then was unbelievable. His competitive spirit and his will to win were just amazing.”
Heaps took that competitiveness to his 11-year career in Major League Soccer that included an MLS Rookie of the Year award in 1999 and four appearances of the U.S. National Team in 2009. He became etched in the history books as the longest ever tenured player on the Revolution with nine seasons that included four MLS Cup appearances, a U.S. Open Cup Championship and a SuperLiga Championship.
None of that surprised Ainscough.
In 2005, Heaps joined Ainscough’s staff at Northeastern as a volunteer assistant coach. It was a role he would serve for two seasons.
“He passed along his experiences to the players who had respect for him because he was such a quality player,” said Ainscough.
The same qualities Ainscough admired in Heaps as a player came through in his coaching.
“The qualities that served him as a player and as a coach here were his passion and his competitive nature,” said Ainscough. “They’re unmatched when I coached him years ago and when he was here coaching.”
Ainscough has coached no shortage of players from the U.S. Soccer Olympic Development Program, Providence College, Bowdoin College, Northeastern and the Bolts, but Heaps competitiveness stood out above the rest.
“It’s unmatched by most players and I think that will serve him as well as a coach as it did as a player,” said Ainscough.
And just like Ainscough knew Heaps had what it takes to make it at the professional level, he believes Heaps has the qualities to succeed as a head coach. Heaps stint as a volunteer assistant with the Huskies made Ainscough realize the former Revs defender was destined to coach one day.
“I knew coaching was in his blood,” he said. “He sidetracked himself for business, but I think that was always his passion and it’s hard to stay away when that’s in your blood.”
Now that Heaps has his chance Ainscough will undoubtedly be among his coaching influences along with former Revs head coach Steve Nicol and others.
Of course Heaps can also draw on his experiences with legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who recently became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I Basketball history. In addition to playing soccer at Duke under John Rennie, the Blue Devils’ former soccer coach who has quite the impressive resume himself, Heaps also was on the basketball team with Coach K.
Like Ainscough, Krzyzewski also sees a successful future for Heaps as a coach.
“I’m really excited about Jay becoming the head coach,” Krzyzewski said. “There’s nobody who has the combination of spirit, energy, charisma and talent like he does. I loved coaching him. He was a walk-on for our basketball team because he was an All-American soccer player, but everyone on our team always followed what he had to say.
“I see him spreading that same type of energy, spirit, and using his charisma to build back a storied program,” he added. “I wish him the best. He’s an outstanding leader, and for management to have the confidence in such a young guy – that they saw a special guy – I think it’ll pay off greatly.”
Heaps certainly has a monumental task ahead of him to turn around a Revolution side that’s missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, but it’s not just the Revs front office that believes he’ll succeed.
Ainscough coached Heaps at the club level when the Massachusetts native played for the FC Greater Boston Bolts. The former Irish youth international knew Heaps had what it takes to be a successful professional player and wasn’t the least bit surprised by the career Heaps had.
“He was special,” said Ainscough. “His competitiveness back then was unbelievable. His competitive spirit and his will to win were just amazing.”
Heaps took that competitiveness to his 11-year career in Major League Soccer that included an MLS Rookie of the Year award in 1999 and four appearances of the U.S. National Team in 2009. He became etched in the history books as the longest ever tenured player on the Revolution with nine seasons that included four MLS Cup appearances, a U.S. Open Cup Championship and a SuperLiga Championship.
None of that surprised Ainscough.
In 2005, Heaps joined Ainscough’s staff at Northeastern as a volunteer assistant coach. It was a role he would serve for two seasons.
“He passed along his experiences to the players who had respect for him because he was such a quality player,” said Ainscough.
The same qualities Ainscough admired in Heaps as a player came through in his coaching.
“The qualities that served him as a player and as a coach here were his passion and his competitive nature,” said Ainscough. “They’re unmatched when I coached him years ago and when he was here coaching.”
Ainscough has coached no shortage of players from the U.S. Soccer Olympic Development Program, Providence College, Bowdoin College, Northeastern and the Bolts, but Heaps competitiveness stood out above the rest.
“It’s unmatched by most players and I think that will serve him as well as a coach as it did as a player,” said Ainscough.
And just like Ainscough knew Heaps had what it takes to make it at the professional level, he believes Heaps has the qualities to succeed as a head coach. Heaps stint as a volunteer assistant with the Huskies made Ainscough realize the former Revs defender was destined to coach one day.
“I knew coaching was in his blood,” he said. “He sidetracked himself for business, but I think that was always his passion and it’s hard to stay away when that’s in your blood.”
Now that Heaps has his chance Ainscough will undoubtedly be among his coaching influences along with former Revs head coach Steve Nicol and others.
Of course Heaps can also draw on his experiences with legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who recently became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I Basketball history. In addition to playing soccer at Duke under John Rennie, the Blue Devils’ former soccer coach who has quite the impressive resume himself, Heaps also was on the basketball team with Coach K.
Like Ainscough, Krzyzewski also sees a successful future for Heaps as a coach.
“I’m really excited about Jay becoming the head coach,” Krzyzewski said. “There’s nobody who has the combination of spirit, energy, charisma and talent like he does. I loved coaching him. He was a walk-on for our basketball team because he was an All-American soccer player, but everyone on our team always followed what he had to say.
“I see him spreading that same type of energy, spirit, and using his charisma to build back a storied program,” he added. “I wish him the best. He’s an outstanding leader, and for management to have the confidence in such a young guy – that they saw a special guy – I think it’ll pay off greatly.”
Heaps certainly has a monumental task ahead of him to turn around a Revolution side that’s missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, but it’s not just the Revs front office that believes he’ll succeed.
I've been constantly following the life and works of Jay Heaps and it has been totally amazing. His career as a soccer player was made more triumphant with the goals he scored for his team. Those are the best moments in the sport.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Tiedemann