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“He can be very demanding but he also will listen to you,” says goalie Tobias Jahn, who previously played for Bonomo at Wisconsin-Green Bay.
The opportunity to lead the men’s soccer team at Northeastern University was a “no-brainer,” new coach Jeremy Bonomo says.
“Everyone knows the Northeastern academic reputation,” says Bonomo, who is 1-3-3 in his first year with the Huskies. “And the men’s soccer team has had years when they’ve been good.”
He wants to elevate the Huskies to a level of consistent contention.
“That’s what was really appealing to me,” Bonomo says, “to be able to build the program, which I’ve done in the past at other universities.”
Last year, Bonomo coached University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to its first NCAA appearance in more than a decade. In nine seasons, his players earned numerous awards (including a pair who were All-Americans) and two of his teams were ranked in the top 20 defensively — an identity he’s seeking to instill at Northeastern.
“I was a defender by trade,” says Bonomo, who also served as the lead recruiter at the University of Cincinnati (2010-14) and head coach at Assumption College (2007-09). “So the defensive side comes more naturally to me.”
As a player Bonomo helped lead New Hampshire College to three NCAA tournaments, culminating in 2002 in the national championship game. He has returned home to New England in the company of four Northeastern transfers — all on the defensive end — including three who followed him from Green Bay.
The team has a large class of seven freshmen, and they are helping launch the new era. Among them is forward Tomas Sciarra, who produced two goals and an assist in Bonomo’s first Northeastern win — a 4-1 victory over Merrimack last week at Parsons Field — that was the 75th of his head coaching career.
“We start in the back and then we rebuild the roster and move it forward,” says Bonomo, adding that the evolving dynamics of explosive soccer require a balance of defense and offense. “But it’s also a different game now. If you can’t score goals, you can’t win.”
The Huskies have yielded just four goals in the past six games.
“Defensive stability is probably the main point,” says senior goalkeeper Tobias Jahn, whom Bonomo originally recruited from southern Germany near Stuttgart. “It’s clicking slowly, it probably will take some time, but I’m confident that it’s going in a good direction to establish that defensive stability.”
Joining Jahn from Green Bay are Christoph Schurz and Jaden Prado. Alec Kenison (from Wake Forest) and Andrew Wilburt (St. Bonaventure) also transferred to Northeastern.
“They’re instrumental in helping put in the system here and it seems like they’re gelling nicely and everyone’s getting along,” Bonomo says of the Green Bay trio. “Those guys are helping plug in the pieces that we need. But everyone is doing a great job with their effort and attention to detail, understanding that it’s not going to be some sort of overnight success. It’s going to take some time.”
Jahn says he and his fellow Green Bay transfers have been focused on easing the transition.
“All three of us can contribute to the team very well and kind of be ambassadors,” Jahn says of Bonomo’s approach. “He can be very demanding but he also will listen to you. He will also take input from players and adjust.”
Bonomo’s style is focused and direct. He has been quick to make corrections during practice, says senior Griffin Polinsky.
“He does a great job of making sure that you understand what he wants — to be disciplined and be the best version of [yourself] and do things the right way,” Polinsky says. “You can see where he eventually wants to be with the program. And like he says, it might not happen overnight, it might take a season or two.”
One of Polinsky’s goals for his final season is to help establish an enduring culture.
“It’s about leaving your jersey in a better place,” Polinsky says, adding that the changes in coaching approaches “have taught me different life lessons and how to persevere. It’s a fresh start in a lot of ways.”