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Mike Varga
Mike Varga was named the fifth head soccer coach in University of Tennessee at Martin history on June 5, 2023.
Varga comes to UT Martin after nine seasons as head coach at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC. Overall, he has accumulated 254 victories over 28 years as a collegiate head women’s soccer coach, including stints at the University of South Alabama (1999-2012) and Lincoln Memorial University (1994-98). He has won three conference championships and coached 78 all-conference honorees over his impressive coaching career.
A Mansfield, Ohio native, Varga went 65-25-7 (.706 winning percentage) with an .867 winning percentage in Gulf South Conference play while at Lincoln Memorial. He is South Alabama’s all-time wins leader with 121 victories and posted a .541 winning percentage (40-33-13) in Big South Conference competition while at Gardner-Webb. Overall, he has won double-digit matches in 11 separate seasons.
At Gardner-Webb, Varga helped the Runnin’ Bulldogs to Big South Conference Tournament championship appearances three times (2018, 2019, 2022) over his final five seasons. His 2022 squad ranked ninth nationally in goals scored (52) – including a Big South record 21 goals (just four shy of the all-time NCAA Division I record) in a Sept. 16 victory over Allen University.
Varga’s 2018 squad at Gardner-Webb produced a 12-5-4 overall record with a 7-1-2 mark in league play, placing second in the Big South standings. He also achieved double-digit victories (10) in 2019, going 7-3 against conference competition. He also found early success as his fifth-place Big South finish in his first season in charge (2014) was the first time the program had finished in the top-half of the league standings since 2009. Two years later, he guided the Runnin’ Bulldogs to a 9-8-3 record (6-3 in Big South) for the program’s first winning record in six seasons.
Varga oversaw 30 All-Big South Conference honorees, seven All-Freshman recipients and 13 Big South All-Tournament participants at Gardner-Webb. He coached the only two players in school history to be named All-Big South four times in a career in Stina Kleppe (2016-19) and 2021 Big South Offensive Player of the Year Maddie Turlington (2019-22). He also produced five United Soccer Coaches Scholar-Athlete All-Region honorees and a pair of All-South Region selections while winning the organization’s National Team Academic Award in all nine seasons and the Team Ethics Award five times.
During his tenure at South Alabama, Varga led the Jaguars to the inaugural Sun Belt Conference regular season title in 2000 and an appearance in the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship match in 2005. His teams won double-digit contests five times and collected at least a dozen victories in four separate campaigns (12-7-1 in 1999, 13-8 in 2000, 12-5-1 in 2005, 12-5-3 in 2011). During his time in Mobile, the Jaguars also rewrote the Sun Belt record book as they are responsible for the top-three scoring games in league history – including a conference record 18-goal barrage against Jackson State on Aug. 31, 2002.
Varga coached 20 All-Sun Belt Conference performers and seven Sun Belt All-Tournament honorees at South Alabama. He additionally guided 21 United Soccer Coaches Scholar Athlete All-Region recipients, three All-Region selections and one Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American. The Jaguars also received the United Soccer Coaches National Team Academic Award on 10 separate occasions and the Team Ethics Award five times.
At Lincoln Memorial, Varga started the women’s soccer program and developed it into a nationally ranked top-20 team within five seasons. He recorded a remarkable 65-25-7 record which included back-to-back GSC championship campaigns in 1996-97, winning a school-record 17 matches in both seasons to capture the university’s first GSC titles in any sport. In 1997, he coached a squad that led the GSC in both offense (49 goals, 3.26 per match) and defense (only eight goals conceded, 0.38 GAA). The following season, his team cracked the national top-10 for the first time ever.
In his tenure at Harrogate, Varga oversaw 18 All-GSC recipients and a United Soccer Coaches All-South Region performer – a list that includes the league’s Player of the Year in each of his final three seasons (Erin Alexander in 1996, Yolanda Janiga in 1997-98). He also served as the Railsplitters’ head men’s soccer coach, adding 50 more victories to his career tally.
All in all, Varga brings a little over three decades of coaching experience to the Skyhawks, amassing over 300 victories. He began his coaching career as an assistant at NCAA Division III institution Ohio Northern University from 1990-92 and also served as an assistant for one season under Kevin Mounce at Gardner-Webb before being elevated to the head gig in 2014.
As a student-athlete, Varga was a four-year starter at Ashland University in Ohio, graduating with a degree in criminal justice and philosophy in 1990 as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 52 goals. He went on to play professionally in Europe and with the Knoxville Impact of the United Soccer League from 1995-97.
Varga is heavily involved with youth soccer and has received numerous awards for his community service, including the 2006 Adidas Youth Coach of the Year honor presented by the Alabama Soccer Association and the 2020 Brantley-Murphy Award presented by the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association. Just this spring, he was named to the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program National Staff and traveled with the team to England before competing at the Dallas Cup in April.
Varga has three children, Alli (who played for him at Gardner-Webb and is currently playing professionally in Finland), Ethan and Kalee.
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