The Trove had the honor of being the first to interview Seton Hall's new men's soccer coach Andreas Lindberg.
Here is part 1 of the interview. Part 2 will be posted in about an hour and concentrate on recruiting and style of play.
A Return to Prominence
by Colin Rajala
What started out as a trip from Sweden across the pond to the U.S. to study, play soccer and enjoy a foreign culture for one year has turned into two decades in America for Andreas Lindberg, the newly appointed head coach for the Seton Hall men’s soccer program.
Lindberg, who grew up playing soccer in Sweden, was contacted by recruiters in 1998 asking if he ever thought about, or had any interest in coming to the United States to play collegiate soccer. Turns out it was not something he had given much thought and took a couple of weeks to ponder.
“It sounded like a pretty good deal,” Lindberg said. “I figured I would like to at least try it for a year and thought what’s the worst that could happen?”
Lindberg’s recruitment led him to Southampton College in Southampton, N.Y. because of its population of Swedes and proximity to the Hamptons and New York City, something which has always attracted him as “the greatest city in the world.”
“I was just going to come for a year and check it out because I still had aspirations to play in Europe professionally, but I fell in love with the lifestyle here on Long Island, in the Hamptons, in New York City. And the rest became history.”
Lindberg played four years at Southampton and in his eighth and final semester at the small college, the men’s head coach was let go and Lindberg was asked to take over on an interim basis.
“It was a great experience, but also a bit different,” Lindberg noted. “I was young so there were players on the team older than me, players on the team younger than me, some guys I had celebrated spring break with....I even had to sub myself into one of the games late in the year because we were down a few players.”
Lindberg eventually graduated with a degree in business administration and the interim tag was removed and he was named head coach, serving from 2002 through 2005, where he compiled a 30-14-7 record, including a regular season NYCAC championship and a national ranking as high as 16 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.
He would then move on to serve as head coach and general manager of the New York Hampton Surf of the American Indoor Soccer League (AISL) and head coach at the Met Oval Development Academy in Brooklyn, N.Y., training 15-18 year olds in the United States Soccer Federation’s Development Academy system.
Before Lindberg made his way to Seton Hall he had one final stop that being by way of Division II LIU-Post, where he was head coach from 2009 through 2017.
His storied career at LIU-Post included a 139-30-15 record, eight East Coast Conference regular season championships, six ECC Tournament championships, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, four NCAA East Region championships and three appearances in the national quarterfinals.
“I think we maxed out with the program — we weren’t fully funded and coaches and staff were part time,” Lindberg said. “The resources weren’t all there so we had to work hard, but I was never really interested in leaving the Northeast.”
Lindberg saw the Seton Hall men’s soccer team head coaching position open up while his team was in the NCAA tournament. “I didn’t want to apply for another job while I was focusing on my current job. I didn’t think it would be right. I was hoping that I would win a national championship with Post,” he said.
That lofty goal fell short as the Pioneers’ season ended in the quarterfinals and it was on that thirteen-hour bus ride home where Lindberg began to reflect on his tenure and aspirations.
“Seton Hall and St. Johns were always the two programs that I knew about and were the two premier programs in the Northeast. I always thought one day it would be really special to get involved at that level with either school,” he said, noting that the Monday morning after that long bus ride back he received an email from the Seton Hall athletic department.
“A couple of people on the search committee had mentioned my name and they asked if I had an interest in the position - I jumped right on it,” he said.
After interviewing and checking out what the South Orange, NJ campus had to offer, Lindberg came away hoping he had made an impression. He has and would accept Seton Hall’s offer a few days later.
“I wouldn’t haven take this job if I didn’t think I had an opportunity to win. It's not like I was jumping at my first chance to coach D1. It needed to be a fit for my family and myself. I love what Seton Hall is all about, the staff here, the alumni here. I think that I can be successful here,” he said.
Lindberg acknowledges that there is a difference between coaching at the D1 and DII levels, but thinks that he is more than prepared for the challenge. He sees his four years coaching in the development academy system as significant saying, “A lot of those kids ended up going to the Big East and ACC so I know the level of skill and talent needed to play at that level and what type of player can be successful there.”
Recruiting and style of play to follow shortly........
Here is part 1 of the interview. Part 2 will be posted in about an hour and concentrate on recruiting and style of play.
A Return to Prominence
by Colin Rajala
What started out as a trip from Sweden across the pond to the U.S. to study, play soccer and enjoy a foreign culture for one year has turned into two decades in America for Andreas Lindberg, the newly appointed head coach for the Seton Hall men’s soccer program.
Lindberg, who grew up playing soccer in Sweden, was contacted by recruiters in 1998 asking if he ever thought about, or had any interest in coming to the United States to play collegiate soccer. Turns out it was not something he had given much thought and took a couple of weeks to ponder.
“It sounded like a pretty good deal,” Lindberg said. “I figured I would like to at least try it for a year and thought what’s the worst that could happen?”
Lindberg’s recruitment led him to Southampton College in Southampton, N.Y. because of its population of Swedes and proximity to the Hamptons and New York City, something which has always attracted him as “the greatest city in the world.”
“I was just going to come for a year and check it out because I still had aspirations to play in Europe professionally, but I fell in love with the lifestyle here on Long Island, in the Hamptons, in New York City. And the rest became history.”
Lindberg played four years at Southampton and in his eighth and final semester at the small college, the men’s head coach was let go and Lindberg was asked to take over on an interim basis.
“It was a great experience, but also a bit different,” Lindberg noted. “I was young so there were players on the team older than me, players on the team younger than me, some guys I had celebrated spring break with....I even had to sub myself into one of the games late in the year because we were down a few players.”
Lindberg eventually graduated with a degree in business administration and the interim tag was removed and he was named head coach, serving from 2002 through 2005, where he compiled a 30-14-7 record, including a regular season NYCAC championship and a national ranking as high as 16 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.
He would then move on to serve as head coach and general manager of the New York Hampton Surf of the American Indoor Soccer League (AISL) and head coach at the Met Oval Development Academy in Brooklyn, N.Y., training 15-18 year olds in the United States Soccer Federation’s Development Academy system.
Before Lindberg made his way to Seton Hall he had one final stop that being by way of Division II LIU-Post, where he was head coach from 2009 through 2017.
His storied career at LIU-Post included a 139-30-15 record, eight East Coast Conference regular season championships, six ECC Tournament championships, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, four NCAA East Region championships and three appearances in the national quarterfinals.
“I think we maxed out with the program — we weren’t fully funded and coaches and staff were part time,” Lindberg said. “The resources weren’t all there so we had to work hard, but I was never really interested in leaving the Northeast.”
Lindberg saw the Seton Hall men’s soccer team head coaching position open up while his team was in the NCAA tournament. “I didn’t want to apply for another job while I was focusing on my current job. I didn’t think it would be right. I was hoping that I would win a national championship with Post,” he said.
That lofty goal fell short as the Pioneers’ season ended in the quarterfinals and it was on that thirteen-hour bus ride home where Lindberg began to reflect on his tenure and aspirations.
“Seton Hall and St. Johns were always the two programs that I knew about and were the two premier programs in the Northeast. I always thought one day it would be really special to get involved at that level with either school,” he said, noting that the Monday morning after that long bus ride back he received an email from the Seton Hall athletic department.
“A couple of people on the search committee had mentioned my name and they asked if I had an interest in the position - I jumped right on it,” he said.
After interviewing and checking out what the South Orange, NJ campus had to offer, Lindberg came away hoping he had made an impression. He has and would accept Seton Hall’s offer a few days later.
“I wouldn’t haven take this job if I didn’t think I had an opportunity to win. It's not like I was jumping at my first chance to coach D1. It needed to be a fit for my family and myself. I love what Seton Hall is all about, the staff here, the alumni here. I think that I can be successful here,” he said.
Lindberg acknowledges that there is a difference between coaching at the D1 and DII levels, but thinks that he is more than prepared for the challenge. He sees his four years coaching in the development academy system as significant saying, “A lot of those kids ended up going to the Big East and ACC so I know the level of skill and talent needed to play at that level and what type of player can be successful there.”
Recruiting and style of play to follow shortly........
