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Marc Colwell, Lakeland College's head men's and women's soccer coach for the past five seasons, has resigned his position with the Muskies to pursue an opportunity in his hometown of South Bend, Ind., outside of coaching.
Colwell completed his career at Lakeland leading the women's soccer team to the Lake Michigan Conference Tournament championship and its second-ever NCAA appearance this past fall, and guiding the men to a tie for third place in the Lake Michigan Conference.
"I had a great opportunity and a great run here and I really appreciated being able to do it," Colwell said. "It was just time for me to get back to where I'm from with family and friends. I am really excited about the challenge of a new job opportunity."
Colwell finished with an overall record of 35-49-13 and 15-13-7 in the LMC with the men's program, 69-33-3 overall and 31-6-1 LMC with the women.
While a conference championship and NCAA appearance both eluded the men's program during his tenure, Colwell inherited a program that had 13 players when he arrived and turned it into a conference title contender in three of his five seasons.
The women's program won the LMC regular season crown in 2002 and 2003 and the conference tournament title in 2003 to go with the tourney title this past fall.
Lakeland Athletic Director Jane Bouche praised Colwell for the job he did in building up both programs.
"When he took over we had fairly good programs, but we didn't have depth," said Bouche. "We didn't have a lot of stability because of coaching changes. In his five years, he not only has built depth in both programs, but he has brought us national attention, especially on the women's side. The men's team has been very competitive and brought a lot of athletes from our local area.
"I would think he will always be in the record book for what he has done the past five years. His job was not an easy one, to have both programs during a time when we didn't have a lot of numbers, and he had to do it through recruiting. You always want to leave a program in better shape than when you got, it and he has done that tenfold."
Colwell said, "The type of kids we were able to bring in and the hard work they put in allowed us to build this program up and have some great success. I have had great assistant coaches and great help administratively as well."
Colwell says he does still plan to coach, but at the club and high school level.
"I have really enjoyed coaching and I plan to continue to coach," said Colwell. "Soccer is always going to draw me back, and I will always continue to be a part of soccer because it has always been a love and passion of mine. This was a very tough decision, especially with the type of teams and kids I was able to bring in here.
"Lakeland will be successful in soccer. There is a great group of kids here and the important thing to remember is that they came here for soccer, not for me. I really do look forward to following them next season and tracking their success."
The Muskies have started a nation-wide search to look for Colwell's successor. Bouche said Lakeland has its eye on someone with both coaching and college recruiting experience.
"We don't know how much experience, but we want experience," Bouche said. "We want someone who is knowledgeable about recruiting, because no matter how good of a coach you are, you have to get players. If you don't get players, you can coach your heart out but you are never going to be competitive."
Colwell steps down from soccer posts after five seasons
Athletics - posted on 12/8/2005
Marc Colwell, Lakeland College's head men's and women's soccer coach for the past five seasons, has resigned his position with the Muskies to pursue an opportunity in his hometown of South Bend, Ind., outside of coaching.
Colwell completed his career at Lakeland leading the women's soccer team to the Lake Michigan Conference Tournament championship and its second-ever NCAA appearance this past fall, and guiding the men to a tie for third place in the Lake Michigan Conference.
"I had a great opportunity and a great run here and I really appreciated being able to do it," Colwell said. "It was just time for me to get back to where I'm from with family and friends. I am really excited about the challenge of a new job opportunity."
Colwell finished with an overall record of 35-49-13 and 15-13-7 in the LMC with the men's program, 69-33-3 overall and 31-6-1 LMC with the women.
While a conference championship and NCAA appearance both eluded the men's program during his tenure, Colwell inherited a program that had 13 players when he arrived and turned it into a conference title contender in three of his five seasons.
The women's program won the LMC regular season crown in 2002 and 2003 and the conference tournament title in 2003 to go with the tourney title this past fall.
Lakeland Athletic Director Jane Bouche praised Colwell for the job he did in building up both programs.
"When he took over we had fairly good programs, but we didn't have depth," said Bouche. "We didn't have a lot of stability because of coaching changes. In his five years, he not only has built depth in both programs, but he has brought us national attention, especially on the women's side. The men's team has been very competitive and brought a lot of athletes from our local area.
"I would think he will always be in the record book for what he has done the past five years. His job was not an easy one, to have both programs during a time when we didn't have a lot of numbers, and he had to do it through recruiting. You always want to leave a program in better shape than when you got, it and he has done that tenfold."
Colwell said, "The type of kids we were able to bring in and the hard work they put in allowed us to build this program up and have some great success. I have had great assistant coaches and great help administratively as well."
Colwell says he does still plan to coach, but at the club and high school level.
"I have really enjoyed coaching and I plan to continue to coach," said Colwell. "Soccer is always going to draw me back, and I will always continue to be a part of soccer because it has always been a love and passion of mine. This was a very tough decision, especially with the type of teams and kids I was able to bring in here.
"Lakeland will be successful in soccer. There is a great group of kids here and the important thing to remember is that they came here for soccer, not for me. I really do look forward to following them next season and tracking their success."
The Muskies have started a nation-wide search to look for Colwell's successor. Bouche said Lakeland has its eye on someone with both coaching and college recruiting experience.
"We don't know how much experience, but we want experience," Bouche said. "We want someone who is knowledgeable about recruiting, because no matter how good of a coach you are, you have to get players. If you don't get players, you can coach your heart out but you are never going to be competitive."
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