Former PU coach likes challenge
Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
In December, 2006, Bob Bradley was named interim head coach of a United States men’s national soccer team.
The Americans had been seen largely as a disappointment in the 2006 World Cup. Despite tying Italy, they did not win a game and did not advance out of pool play. The US brought in the former Princeton University coach to replace Bruce Arena, certainly knowing Bradley’s track record in turning around teams.
His coaching tenure with the US national team got off to a good start as the Americans won the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 2-1 win over Mexico in June. With the win, Bradley ran his inaugural record at the helm to 10-0-1 before suffering three shorthanded losses in the more competitive Copa America tournament last month. His interim tag has also been lifted.
"In 2007, I think we’ve been able to challenge some of the veterans who have been part of the national team to take bigger roles, and we’ve been able to bring some younger players onto the national team and getting them experience seeing what the international level is like," Bradley said. "We’ve been able to establish the level for what every training camp should have. That came together in the months leading to the Gold Cup and we were pleased to defend our cup and earn a place in Confederations Cup."
Bradley started building his reputation while molding Princeton University into a Final Four team in 1993. Three years later, he took on another challenge and began coaching in Major League Soccer, first as an assistant to Arena, then on his own.
"Probably more than anything," Bradley said, "I’ve always enjoyed whatever challenges I’m involved with at that time. I certainly enjoyed being part of soccer program at Princeton and some of things I was able to be involved with at the youth level. As time went on, there are new challenges and opportunities."
Nine years in the MLS have made him the winningest coach in league history. Twice he was named Coach of the Year. In 1998, in the Chicago Fire’s inaugural season, he led them to the MLS Cup title. In 2006, he led Chivas USA from the league’s worst record to a playoff berth. In each of his nine seasons, his teams have reached the playoffs. The newest challenge is perhaps the biggest.
"There are challenges along the way," he said. "For me, when I went to Princeton, I was a young coach, so it was, could we have a good team and a good program? I couple years after I came in, Bill Tierney came. We talked about what was the same challenge. I know when Scott (Bradley, Tigers baseball coach and Bob’s brother) went to Princeton, that’s how he thought about it. When you leave, it’s the same. How to build a better team. That part is obviously bigger with the national team, and at the international level, but the little parts are the same."
Bradley has always found a way to overcome challenges, first as a player at Princeton, then as a coach of the Tigers. As a player, the 1980 graduate of Princeton helped the Tiger men’s team to the second round of the 1979 NCAA Tournament. He was the team’s leading scorer despite not having what was considered the talents of some of his teammates. His playing days ended soon after as Ohio University hired him as a 22-year-old coach a year later. After a year as an assistant to Arena at Virginia, Bradley returned to Princeton in 1984, where he coached 12 seasons. Bradley continues to coach in much the same way he found success with the Tigers.
"I think anybody that I coached or anybody I’ve worked with, would always say, I’ve tried to enjoy each challenge, working with a group and finding ways for that group to get better and be successful," Bradley said. "That’s the basis at any level. I always was fully involved with each Princeton group, with the players, figuring out how to become a better group and how to challenge each other. I’ve always enjoyed that process.
"I was lucky to be at Princeton for 12 years and worked with young guys who loved to play soccer and were good at it, and good at a lot of other things too. That was important."
Then, Bradley says, being head coach of the US national team wasn’t on his mind. He was focused on the Tigers, whom he led to a pair of Ivy League crowns and their lone appearance in the national final four in program history.
"The opportunity to coach the national team is quite an honor," Bradley said. "It’s something I’m very proud of, especially when you consider all the people that contribute to soccer all around the country. When you see the different people involved that put so much in the game, coaches or administrators, you know those people would give anything to help the national team. When you get the opportunity, it’s special. It’s an honor, but not something I spent time thinking about years ago."
Bradley got a taste of the highest level of soccer when he assisted Arena when the men’s team qualified for the 2006 Atlanta Olympics. It was his first foray into the international game.
"When the opportunity came to leave Princeton, at the time to assist Bruce with DC United and our Olympic team," Bradley said, "sometimes you know the feeling is right for a new challenge. When you coach at a higher level, you coach many players who are very experienced, players whose background is varied. The challenge of earning that credibility with them with the way you run training sessions, the decisions you make on who plays, what you say to the team, how you manage the team, those were the challenges I felt were important at that time."
But no matter how far Bradley has risen, he has forgotten that much of his coaching style was rooted at Princeton. He still returns on occasion to the Princeton area to see family and friends.
"Any time you’re involved with good people, you enjoy the chance to get back," he said. "I go to Conte’s for pizza. Unfortunately, Victor’s is not longer there. My friend sold Victor’s. But there are a lot of great connections."
His closest friends treat him no differently now that he is heading the US national team as well as the men’s U-23 national team. His ascension through the ranks cannot come as a surprise.
"Those are all my best friends," Bradley said. "Over the years, we’ve enjoyed being in soccer together. We’ve enjoyed the different projects. We’ve always had a dialogue about the game on all levels. Our friendship goes beyond that, but soccer is something we all shared. With good friends, when you get together, you might not have seen people for a year, but you pick right up where you left off."
Bradley remains connected to the Tigers program. He is close friends with PU head coach Jim Barlow, who played for Bradley at Princeton.
"I follow as closely as anyone," Bradley said. "I think it’s great for the program that the new stadium is being built. That stadium is the result of efforts of a lot of people, some of the people who contributed are guys who played at Princeton or families involved in the program. It’s something we all are proud of."
Sometimes, Bradley doesn’t have to look far to find Princeton. In preparing for this summer’s tournaments, he brought back a former player of his, one that went all the way back to his days as Tigers coach.
"One of the games we had in early in June was against China," he recalled. "In that camp, we needed to have some other people because we didn’t have our MLS guys and Jesse Marsch was on the team and came on at the end of that game. It’s a sign of a lot of the good things that have taken place at Princeton. People around Princeton are proud to see Jesse on the field as part of the national team."
Marsch was able to play a small part in Bradley’s plan to turn around the US national team. The 1996 Princeton University graduate is uniquely qualified to understand Bradley’s abilities. He was a part of the Princeton final four team and the Chicago Fire title teams. Bradley brought those teams unprecedented success, and now he’s facing the pressure to do the same for the US men.
"For sure, it’s there," Bradley said. "But one of the things that I’ve learned over the years, you focus on the work. It’s important to be able to work on the areas you can control. That involves not being caught up with what’s involved on the outside. It’s being focused on the training sessions and getting ready for each game."
And getting ready for every challenge, which Bob Bradley has always been up for, from Princeton to the international level.

