As December rolls around, there's an unprecedented situation in the New England college soccer community: Three of the four Division 1 men's soccer programs in Boston are without a coach. Ed Kelly and Neil Roberts (Braintree, Mass.) both retired from Boston College and Boston University, respectively, while Pieter Leher is not returning to lead Harvard. The only holdover is Chris Gbandi at Northeastern.
All three jobs are highly-desirable in the college soccer world, because of location, prestige and the draw of Boston. They all present different challenges, too. Harvard is one of the world's top universities, but the Ivy League program hasn't had a winning season since 2016. Then at Boston University, there's the chance to become the elite Patriot League program, after last making the NCAA tournament in 2015. Lastly, Boston College is in the ACC and has every reason to attract top recruits far and wide.
From talking to sources around the college game, they expect these jobs won't remain vacant for long. But who could fill those spots?
To answer that question, we've highlighted 10 candidates from around the country who could vault to the top of the list. Many have roots in New England, but there's bound to be nationwide interest. The 10 candidates are sorted below in alphabetical order:
