Podcast: UNH coach Rich Weinrebe on staying successful in a ‘crazy’ landscape

New Hampshire men's head coach Rich Weinrebe joined 'The Goal.' (UNH Athletics)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is University of New Hampshire men’s soccer head coach Rich Weinrebe.

Weinrebe is entering his second season as head coach at UNH, after leading the program to a record of 7-3-7 in 2024. He returned to Durham after two seasons as head coach at Northeastern University, and was named the 12th men’s soccer head coach in program history on Jan. 4, 2024. A native of East Providence, R.I., he spent eight seasons (2014-21) on the Wildcats’ men’s soccer staff, which included a five-year tenure as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

As a UNH student-athlete, Weinrebe had a stellar four-year career that included two seasons as a captain. As a defender, he helped the Wildcats achieve a No. 1 overall ranking in New England for just the second time in program history and a No. 23 spot in the national polls. 

Weinrebe joined hosts Matt Langone and Matt Doherty to discuss his program, competing in the tough America East Conference and the changing landscape of college soccer.

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Here are some highlights from our discussion:

On how the team is shaping up for the 2025 season:

Weinrebe: “I think things are trending in a really good direction. We have a couple more pieces to kind of put together, but I feel really good about the quality of the guys, the character of the players that are coming in. And I feel really good about the guys that are returning that have some real live UNH men’s soccer experience — regular season, championship experience, playoff experience that can carry over and kind of push us forward this coming fall.”

On the amount of player movement in college soccer:

Weinrebe: “It’s crazy. There’s no other way to cut it. Like, there’s no other way to say it. There’s thousands of guys in the portal, a lot of whom won’t even find homes.”

On how mindsets have changed for players in the current landscape:

Weinrebe: “I think it’s become harder for players to do hard things. And typically it’s based around playing time. I think back a lot to when I was getting recruited and going to college. You used to have high school soccer — and some of these guys still do — be very, very prevalent, and you would start as a freshman and then you would have to kind of work your way into things. Even if you were a top ninth grader, you’re still playing against 18-year-olds, and those guys might be better than you or more experienced or whatever, right? So then you had a little bit of that, and then you move into more of like the MLS Next setup, where everybody’s playing most of the time and there’s balancing of playing time and schedules and rotating of teams.”

On the program’s approach to 2025 and playing in the same league as national champion Vermont:

Weinrebe: “I think we approach it the same as every year. We’re the most underrated conference in the entire country, and I think everybody that works in America East would feel the same. We feel like we’re one of the best and to play in our league is extremely hard. Everybody is well-coached, organized, lots of good players on every single team, different styles, and everybody wants to win, and it’s tight every year. There’s lots of great people and great coaches within the conference. … We always want to beat Vermont — that’s a simple one. That’s been the rivalry over the last 10 years.”

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