The Bond of the Bench

Last year, former Akron soccer assistant coach TJ Kolba faced Michigan State in the NCAA College Cup semifinals. Kolba broke down MSU's defense, trying to help the Zips win. His instructions proved strong, as Akron won, 5-1.

A year later, Kolba finds himself on the MSU men's soccer sideline, part of Spartan head coach Damon Rensing's coaching staff. He's part of a new wave of MSU coaching talent, as former Northwestern assistant Joe Ahearn is also now on board.

"After four years at Akron, I just felt that it was time for something different," Kolba said. "And the timing, life is crazy, you never know what's going to happen. When this job came open it was kind of a no-brainer."

Kolba comes with a lot of experience, having assistant coaching jobs at John Carroll, Cleveland State and Akron.

Ahearn is known for his strong recruiting skills, assembling strong classes at Northwestern.

Choosing to leave the Wildcats was tough, but the family aspect sealed the move to East Lansing.

"I've had a ton of respect for Coach Rensing, I had been at Northwestern for five years so this was an opportunity to continue to grow as a coach and a person," Ahearn said. "In terms of family, the cost of living in East Lansing is a little different than Chicago. The school district seemed great for the kids from our perspective, when my wife came to visit it made complete sense."

Kolba discovered his love for coaching while he was playing at John Carroll. He broke his foot his senior year and was sidelined the rest of the season. He still supported his teammates, watching every game from the sidelines. This is where Kolba discovered that he could make a career out of coaching.

He also learned soccer was his life after a brief foray outside of sports.

"I went on to have a job after school at Wells Fargo Financial doing mortgages, re-financing and stuff like that. I didn't like that, I quickly found out what motivated me and what didn't. When I was at Wells Fargo, I thought I was motivated by things and money and I realized I don't care about those things. Luckily, I found my way back to the game after that," said Kolba.

Ahearn was part of the recruiting team at Northwestern that was credited for bringing in the No. 25 ranked recruiting class in 2018 according to Top Drawer Soccer. He will be taking a major role in MSU's recruiting efforts.

"I'm very fortunate because Coach Rensing has an unbelievable reputation for recruiting here in Michigan. If you look back at the rosters over the past 15-20 years, consistently Michigan players make up that roster. In saying that, Michigan State is a national brand and if need be, we can pull recruits throughout the country," said Ahearn.

Assistants at MSU hold a lot of responsibility for training sessions and scouting. Kolba and Ahearn switch off every week on the scouting report for the next team.

"Coach Rensing is great in allowing his assistants to grow. He gives us a voice, he gives us responsibility, he has expectations and through that, we will continue to grow," said Ahearn.

Kolba is responsible for putting together video for the scouting report, detailing where the Spartans should be attacking and how they should be defending. The video is a key part of any successful program and Kolba takes this responsibility seriously.

Rensing has had a several seniors graduate from last year's successful team, and three were drafted in Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Two Spartan assistant coaches (Cale Wassermann and Ben Pirmann) also left for new opportunities, meaning Rensing wanted to find coaches that were the right fit. He had great respect for the head coaches that Kolba and Ahearn had been working for at Akron and Northwestern.

"They come from good pedigrees, Tim Lenahan at Northwestern I've had respect for, for years and Jared Embick where TJ came from at Akron," Rensing said. "Second, I think they're both good people. They want to see Michigan State do well and so you start with knowledgeable people and have learned the game from good pedigrees and good people, you're headed in the right direction."

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