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Eric Pogue
Marking a decade-and-a-half at the helm, Eric Pogue is entering his 15th season as the Oakland University Men’s Soccer head coach in 2023 and his 22nd year with the program overall.
During his time as head coach, Oakland has claimed six conference championships, including three since the program joined the Horizon League in 2014, 2015 and 2021.
Navigating injuries to a few of their top returning players, including All-Horizon League senior forward Mikey Ketteman, Pogue still piloted the Golden Grizzlies to a 4-2-3 mark in conference play in 2022, good for fourth in the regular season league standings.
Falling to the 1-seed Cleveland State Vikings in a conference tournament semifinal, senior midfielder Ville Ahola and classmate and defender Reid Sproat both took home First Team All-Horizon League spots under the stewardship of Pogue and his coaching staff, with goalkeeper Michael Sly Jr. adding an All-Freshman Team nod.
In 2021, Pogue earned his fourth Coach of the Year award and took the Golden Grizzlies to the NCAA Tournament after claiming regular season and Horizon League Championship titles. Oakland took on Northern Illinois in the first round of the tournament and fell 2-1 after a challenging game. Before the NCAA tournament, the team completed a comeback for the ages, erasing a 3-0 second-half deficit and securing a 4-3 win over Cleveland State (10/9), who was previously unbeaten Horizon League play. Oakland then upset nationally-ranked Louisville (10/19) on the road and closed the regular season unbeaten in their last eight HL contests.
A league-high seven Golden Grizzlies earned All-Horizon League honors, including Mikey Ketteman and Noah Jensen, who earned first-team honors. The pair also earned spots on the United Coaches 2021 NCAA Division I Men's All-North Region Teams.
A five-year product of Pogue's leadership, Jensen also won the 2021 Senior CLASS Award for NCAA ® Division I men's soccer and was the second recipient in school history to win this prestigious award, following Nick Kristock in 2013. Jensen earned 2021 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's Scholar All-America second-team honors in his final year. He became the first Oakland University male student-athlete to earn Scholar All-American honors for two years in a row.
In addition to his coaching and recruiting duties, Pogue owns and runs Oakland Soccer Camps LLC, a summer program that serves more than 900 campers each year.
Off the Oakland soccer field in 2021, Pogue and associate head coach Paul Doroh coached the Michigan State ODP 04 boys team.
In 2015, Pogue led the Golden Grizzlies to their third NCAA tournament berth and third conference tournament championship in his head coaching tenure. Oakland was defeated in their NCAA first-round matchup with Dayton in penalty kicks after finishing double overtime tied 2-2. Leading up to the NCAA tournament, Oakland entered the Horizon League tournament as the second seed and proceeded to not allow a single goal in the tournament, on their way to securing the Horizon League Tournament title for a second consecutive season. Under his guidance, six Oakland student-athletes were named to All-League teams, and Austin Ricci was named Horizon League Co-Offensive Player of the Year.
The 2014 season was also a successful year for Coach Pogue as he led the Golden Grizzlies to a 2-0 victory over No. 24 Kentucky in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the first win in the NCAA College Cup since 2007, before falling to No. 3 seed Michigan State, 1-0, in the second round. Oakland captured its first-ever Horizon League regular-season crown with an undefeated 5-0-3 record, the first undefeated league season since 2009, and won its first-ever Horizon League Tournament Championship on Nov. 15, 2-1, against Wright State at the Oakland Soccer Field. It was the first time since 2007 Oakland won both the regular season and tournament titles in the same year. Coach Pogue was named the 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, his third coach of the year honor in six seasons at the helm.
In 2013, Pogue led Oakland into its first season in the Horizon League to a 4-2-1 record, hosted Oakland's first-ever Horizon League game on Sept. 6 against Valparaiso, and won its first league game Sept. 28 at Cleveland State. Pogue led the 2012 Golden Grizzlies to a regular-season league title and was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
Pogue has also trained former Oakland standout and current professional goalkeepers Steve Clark, Mitch Hildebrandt, and Sean Lewis.
In 2010, the Golden Grizzlies won The Summit League Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. It was the third Summit League Tournament title in program history and the first under Pogue's direction.
In his first season as head coach, Pogue was named Summit League Coach of the Year. Oakland posted a 5-1-1 league record and finished 9-5-3 overall while winning The Summit League regular-season title.
Pogue also served as an assistant head coach for a pair of youth teams at Vardar Academy, where he won an under-18 US Developmental Academy National Championship in 2010. Pogue also served as a head coach for a pair of youth teams in the Vardar Soccer Club, working with the 1994 and 1996 age groups and serving as the club's goalkeeping director. He served on the US Region II Regional ODP staff from 2005-2009 and was a Michigan State ODP staff member. Pogue holds a USSF "B" coaching license and received his USSF National Goalkeeper license in 2009.
A fifth-round pick in the 2001 MLS Super Draft by the New England Revolution, Pogue came to Oakland after playing stints with the Revolution and the Dallas Burn. Pogue continued his playing career in the USL Premier Development League. His PDL experience began in 1996 with a two-season stint for the Detroit Dynamite before moving to the Bucks' club in 1998-2000 and for the 2002 season. His PDL play included two seasons with the Toledo Slayers (2003-04) and the 2005 season with the Chicago Fire Premier, earning the All-PDL Goalkeeper award for five seasons. Pogue has also played for the Kalamazoo Kingdom/TKO of the PDL for two seasons.
Before coming to Oakland, Pogue served as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Western Michigan University. He has also been working as a goalkeeper trainer since 1994 with area high schools, the Troy Premier Soccer Association, TKO Soccer Club of Portage/Kalamazoo, Bloomfield Hills Soccer Club, and the Michigan Bucks. In addition, Pogue has served as either a camp director or coach at the Detroit Country Day Academy, Midwest Soccer Camps, Michigan Bucks Soccer School, Western Michigan, Oakland, and Detroit Rockers Soccer Camp.
A Troy Athens High School standout, Pogue played four years at WMU after redshirting at Oakland in 1995. Pogue started all four seasons for the Broncos and was named team captain and earned MVP honors for his final three seasons. He graduated from WMU in 2000 with a Bachelor's degree in finance and accounting and earned an MBA from Oakland in 2006.
Pogue resides in Rochester, Michigan.
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