Following a loss to a nationally ranked team, a game in which the Stags were only slight underdogs, the head coach had every right to be upset.
Unassuming as always, he took responsibility for the 5-0 loss, vowing to return to the practice field the next day and keep working.
“The game does not necessarily build personality,” he said. “It reveals it.”
Now that sounds more like a philosopher than a coach, which begs the question, “Who, exactly, is this guy?”
He does not have the tenure and history of former women’s basketball coach Dianne Nolan, or the hype and excitement of her replacement, Joe Frager. He certainly doesn’t have the presence and flashy personality of an Ed Cooley, arguably the face of men’s basketball and perhaps Fairfield athletics.
Any guesses? Anyone?
Here’s the first hint: In 1996, his first season on the job, he led a fledgling Stags team to the MAAC finals, a miracle run remembered to this day.
Two years later, he was the first coach to lead a Fairfield team to a national ranking when his 1998 team capped an 11-game unbeaten streak with a trip into the polls.
Let’s continue. In 2005, his team was undefeated during in-conference play, a feat never before achieved by any Fairfield team in school history.
Still stumped?
Last one: Only a few short months ago, his “lads” not only took the regular season MAAC title, but also brought home championship glory, clinching a NCAA Tournament berth of Lessing Field soil only a year ago.
In case you couldn’t pick up on that, he kind of sounds like David Beckham or Austin Powers.
Ladies and gentleman, meet Carl Rees, the men’s soccer coach – the best coach you don’t know.
Rees was born in Bebington, England – a small town not far from Paul McCartney’s own Liverpool, a place in which ‘football’ is far more than just a sport; it is a veritable institution and a way of life.
As is the custom with most British children, Rees was bred for soccer, having it literally infused with his life.
Prior to emigrating to America in 1984 to play soccer, he was a prominent member of the Everton and Liverpool Football Club youth teams.
At age 18, Rees made one of the biggest decisions of his life.
He decided to move to America and attend Hartwick College, a 1,500-person school in Oneonta, N.Y., that is essentially known for two things: Adirondack scenery and soccer.
You can bet that Rees wasn’t going there to look at foliage.
As a member of the Hawks, Rees was a smashing success. Aside from being a four-year starter, he was named team captain as a junior and as a senior.
Post-season success?
That would be an understatement.
During his career at the school, Hartwick reached the NCAA Tournament all four seasons, with two of those seasons resulting in trips to the semi-finals.
Following his college days, Rees played for a couple of seasons with in an independent soccer team in Albany.
It didn’t take long for Rees to realize that his heart was in coaching.
He spent a few seasons as a grad assistant at Division III schools Plattsburg State and Frostburg State, and later he accepted a position to return to his alma mater.
He remained an assistant coach for four seasons when, in 1996, he accepted the job to coach the Fairfield Stags, a relative unknown in the soccer realm of America when compared to Hartwick.
Since then, the stats do not lie: Eight winning seasons, 1998 MAAC coach of the year, a .710 winning percentage in in-conference play, 115 career wins as a head coach and two MAAC Championships.
Rees has tried to bring together the school, always thanking the fans for their support and calling the team an extension of the University.
After losing in the NCAA Tournament to Towson last year, Rees was as graceful as always, praising the University and the Athletic Department for their support. It is his grace and poise that makes him so well liked among other coaches, to the point where he is the chair of the National Soccer Coaches of America Association’s Rankings Committee.
And while he may not have the fame or public image of many of his peers, he has had more success than any other coach.
And no one knows about it.
Instead, Rees is behind the scenes working with his lads on the game he loves so dearly.
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