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Mike O'Neill
Head Coach Mike O’Neill enters his 10th season at the helm of Rutgers women’s soccer in 2023-24 - and 24th year overall with the program. The longtime New Jersey native served as the Scarlet Knights’ associate head coach from 2004-13, now lending his local and national player expertise at the reins as the program competes in the Big Ten Conference.
Through his involvement on the New Jersey club soccer scene, O’Neill has helped develop a multitude of regional and national-level players, while his club teams have won numerous national, regional and state titles, in addition to three national championships.
In 2021, O'Neill was named the Big Ten and ECAC Coach of the Year and led the reigning United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Scarlet Knights to the first Big Ten Conference title for the program and for Rutgers, cruising to a 10-0 undefeated record in conference play. The team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game for the third time since joining the league. In its 10th straight NCAA Tournament and first as a No. 1 seed, the team advanced to the College Cup for the second time and first time since 2015. Overall, a plethora of new program records were set by the squad, including total wins, goals, assists, points, winning streak, and more. The Scarlet Knights capped the year ranked No. 3, the highest rank ever for the program.
O'Neill and his staff were lauded with Big Ten and regional awards following the monumental 2021 season, with O'Neill taking Big Ten and ECAC Coach of the Year honors and his staff earning United Soccer Coaches Regional Staff of the Year accolades.
In 2015, O’Neill became the first head coach in Rutgers women’s soccer history to lead the program to the NCAA Women’s College Cup. In addition, he is the first to guide the program to NCAA Tournament berths in each of his first nine seasons.
Rutgers has qualified for 11 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Across the last nine seasons under O'Neill, the program has reached its conference semifinals five times, advancing to the championship match in three of those appearances. Throughout O'Neill's tenure at Rutgers, the program has produced 11 MAC Hermann Trophy candidate selections, 13 United Soccer Coaches (Formerly NSCAA) All-America selections, and 45 United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees.
The 10th-year head coach has maintained the program’s history of academic excellence and character, with 134 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten laurels in the last nine seasons. Rutgers was named a College Women’s Team Academic Award winner by United Soccer Coaches for the 13th consecutive year in 2022-23.
The program has watched former players get their names called in six of the last seven National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) College Drafts. In January 2021, Amirah Ali, the program’s first ever four-time All-American, was drafted 22nd overall by Portland Thorns FC, becoming the eighth Scarlet Knight drafted. In 2020, Chantelle Swaby, All-Big Ten and All-Region honoree, was selected 29th overall by New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC, The year prior, All-Big Ten and All-Region selection, Kenie Wright, was drafted 29th overall by Sky Blue FC. Most recently in 2023, Meagan McClelland signed a contract with the Chicago Red Stars.
MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and two-time Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, Casey Murphy, was selected 13th overall by Sky Blue FC in 2018. All-Big Ten performers Madison Tiernan and Erin Smith were selected 24th overall (Sky Blue FC) and 33rd overall (Houston Dash), respectively, in 2017.
On a proud day for the program – Jan. 15, 2016 – All-American defenders Erica Skroski and Brianne Reed were picked in the NWSL Draft, becoming the first two Rutgers players in history to be selected into the league. Reed went 18th overall to FC Kansas City, as Skroski was picked 23rd overall by hometown team Sky Blue FC.
Reed and Skroski emerged as national talents while “On the Banks.” Skroski earned NSCAA All-America Second Team laurels as a senior in 2015, with Reed securing NSCAA All-America Third Team laurels in 2014. Both players were First Team All-Big Ten players.
In a season that saw the fall campaign moved to spring 2021 due to the pandemic, Rutgers finished in the Top 3 of the Big Ten for the third consecutive season. The Scarlet Knights reached the Big Ten Semifinals for the second straight year and earned a bid to their ninth straight NCAA Tournament.
RU produced a program-record seven All-Big Ten honorees, two First Team All-Region selections, a First Team All-American, and a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist. In the classroom, the program registered a Scholar All-American and All-Region selection, nine Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, 17 Academic All-Big Ten selections, and 17 Dean’s List honorees.
In 2019, Rutgers finished as Big Ten regular season runner-up for the second consecutive season, going on to reach the semifinals of the league tournament. The accolades poured in for the team, including a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, an All-American, five All-Region and six All-Big Ten honorees. Additionally, Amanda Visco was named the Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient, the third Scarlet Knight from the program to be bestowed the honor.
In 2018, Rutgers solidified its highest Big Ten finish since joining the league, finishing as runner-up to the regular season title. The lineup produced seven All-Big Ten honorees, the most in program history, a third-straight Big Ten Freshman of the Year recipient, and an All-American.
Rutgers continued to rewrite the record book on numerous occasions in 2017, registering the best goals-against-average (0.267) in a single-season in Rutgers and Big Ten history. The defense claimed the NCAA team statistical titles in GAA and shutout percentage (.762), allowing a program-low and Big Ten-low six goals and posting 16 shutouts.
The Scarlet Knights began reshaping the record books in 2015, setting a new standard for the program. RU won a record 19 matches, advanced to its first College Cup in the program’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament trip, and ended the year ranked No. 4 in the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) Coaches Poll – its highest position ever.
The storybook season included a colossal 7-6 penalty kick shootout victory at No. 1 Virginia in the national quarterfinals to punch the team’s ticket to Cary, North Carolina.
The team’s success in 2015 hinged on its defensive greatness. RU led the NCAA in goals-against average (0.37), shutouts (19), and shutout percentage (.731). All three statistical achievements set single-season RU records.
In his first season leading the program in 2014, O’Neill and his staff guided the Scarlet Knights to a memorable inaugural campaign in the Big Ten Conference, one that included a 13-6-1 record and third consecutive NCAA Tournament trip. Rutgers topped La Salle, 2-0, in the first round at Yurcak Field to advance before being knocked out by national runner-up, Virginia, in the second round of the tourney.
O’Neill, the 2013 NSCAA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, is the Director of Coaching for the Players Development Academy (PDA) in Zarepath, New Jersey, one of the Top Youth Girls Clubs in the Country and two-time ECNL Club National Champions.
O’Neill has identified and developed some of the premiere players in the state and in the country through PDA and his work with ECNL. In 2020, the Kearny native was inducted into the NJ Youth Soccer (NJYS) Hall of Fame. The year prior he was inducted into the Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey (SCANJ) Hall of Fame also for all he has done for the sport of soccer in the garden state.
A USSF “A” licensed coach who holds a KNVB Dutch International Badge, O’Neill was a member of Seton Hall’s BIG EAST Championship teams in 1987 and 1988, helping the Pirates reach the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight each of those years. In 1984, O’Neill earned the Coggins Award, emblematic of the top high school player in New Jersey, while leading Kearny High School to a state championship and a number-one national ranking.
O’Neill graduated from Seton Hall University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. A native of Kearny, New Jersey, he currently resides in New Egypt with his wife, Rachel, and their children, Madelyn, Kylie and Michael.
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