FSU soccer: New head coach Brian Pensky talks goals for Seminoles program

FLORIDA STATE — Head coach Brian Pensky held his first press conference as a Seminole on Tuesday as he prepares to take over a program that has been a staple in the college soccer world for quite some time. Athletic Director Michael Alford kicked it off by saying, “Another great day to be a Nole, as is every day is a great day to be a Nole,” also further speaking on the excitement and gratefulness he has for the leaders in the coaching community.

Pensky started out by saying what it means to represent Florida State:

“It’s obviously quite an honor to be standing in front of everyone here at Florida State University and thank you in particular to the head coaches that have made it here to be with us and to celebrate this special day with me. Thank you to Cindy, and Jim, and Michael in entrusting the best program in women’s college soccer with me. I don't take that lightly. I take it with humility.”

Knowing the task ahead of him, Pensky spoke about who he is replacing:

“I take Mark’s (Krikorian) spot with a ton of humility. He has been unequivocally, in my opinion, and a lot of other people's opinions, the best in the business over the last 10-15 years. He’s a phenomenal coach. He’s won at a very high level and I certainly have a big job following in his shoes. I’m well aware of that and excited to give it a shot.”

“I’d be remiss not to thank the players that are here right now. They didn't see any of this coming. They chose Florida State because they love Florida State and because they believed in the soccer program and because they believed in Mark. I understand that, and to not really grasp that, and have empathy for that, I’d be naive and ignorant. It’s a loss. When you lose a coach in such a sudden fashion it's a loss, right? And when these kids felt that, and experienced that, and now that there's obviously closure with that in my appointment and me being here, now here they are adjusting to their new lives.“

On his style of play and vision:

“I think, again, it's gonna come back to personnel, right? We all know that we’ve got some kids that want some time to get to know me and things like that. This team — Mark recruits good players and he recruits highly intelligent players. They have a good natural feel for the game so we’re gonna wanna keep the ball for sure. Just as they have in the past and make teams chase us and that's not easy. It's both technique and brain. It's coaching and it’s structure to that. I need to watch more tape and I need to look at it more statistically, but, one thing that we really prided ourselves on the last couple of years at Tennesee is really making teams face their own goal. Making backs face their own goal, putting pressure on backs and making them feel uneasy.“

“Hopefully I can add some things that make sure that teams are always stressed and they’re always fearing giving up goals.”

The full press conference can be seen below:

An excerpt of thoughts on the hire from our Prince Akeem Joeffer:

Basically, Pensky’s time at Tennessee provides evidence that he will be able to keep the program from falling too far nationally. My expectation is that he will be able to keep FSU as a top 20 program at minimum and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he was able to keep FSU in or around the top 10 long term.