Raymond Michael "Ray" Reid (born May 8, 1960) is a retired American

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

coach. He was

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

Huskies men's soccer team for 24 years. He has led UConn to one

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

, eight

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

regular season championships and four

tournament championships. Before coming to UConn, he was the head coach at

Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply "Southern") is a public research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it ...

, leading the team to three

Division II

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in eight seasons. Reid leads all coaches in the nation in winning percentage (.769) and has won four

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

Coach of the Year awards."Ray Reid Bio" – ''UConnHuskies.com''
Retrieved April 10, 2014.

Early years

Reid was born and raised in

Brentwood, New York Brentwood is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in the Islip, New York, Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 62,387 at the 2020 Census, making it the m ...

. He graduated from Southern Connecticut in 1982 with a degree in economics."The Reid 'Family' Now Resides In Storrs"
''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

''. Retrieved April 10, 2014.

Playing career

Reid was a soccer standout at Brentwood High School, where he received academic honors in addition to those on the field. He spent his first year of NCAA eligibility at

Suffolk Community College Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is a public community college in Selden, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is funded in part by Suffolk County, New York. Suffolk County Community College was f ...

, receiving all-region honors. He transferred to Southern Connecticut for his remaining three years of eligibility. He was a captain on the team for his junior and senior years and played in three NCAA Division II national championship semifinals while with the Owls.

Early coaching years

After graduating from Southern Connecticut in 1982, Reid was offered an assistant coaching position by then-head coach Bob Dikranian. He spent the next six seasons as an assistant coach at the school, helping the team win its first national championship in 1987.

Head coach at Southern Connecticut

During Reid's eight-year tenure at Southern Connecticut, the Owls only missed the NCAA tournament once (1991) and advanced to the Division II College Cup six times (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996), winning national championships in three of those years (1990, 1993, 1995)."Reid And Deeley Have Formed A Bond That Works For UConn Men's Soccer"
''

''. Retrieved April 10, 2014.

Head coach at UConn

UConn initially pursued Reid for the coaching job after long-time head coach

Joe Morrone Joseph John Morrone Jr (October 20, 1935 – September 16, 2015) was an American head men's collegiate soccer coach. He is the father of former soccer midfielder Joseph "Joe" M. Morrone He coached soccer at the University of Connecticut from ...

suffered several sub-par seasons, failing to reach the NCAA tournament for seven straight years. After several years of turning down offers from other Division I programs, Reid decided to take the job, which some of those close to him described as "his dream job". He has coached at UConn since 1997, and has obtained a 248–80–46 (.725) mark during his 17 seasons in Storrs. In just his third season, Reid took the Huskies to the College Cup semifinals, falling just short of the national championship game. But Reid brought back a determined team in 2000, winning his first and only Division I national championship in a 2–0 victory against Creighton. His teams have made sixteen straight NCAA tournament appearances, including three straight national quarterfinal appearances since 2011.

Personal life

Reid married Valarie Casares in 2008. Reid has two daughters, Cate and Dannielle, from his previous marriage to Sondra Reid. Reid has worked closely with current UConn associate head coach John Deeley for more than 30 years, who played against Reid in high school and later with him at Southern Connecticut. The pair appeared in two NCAA Division II national championship semifinals while with the Owls. Upon Reid's promotion to head coach at Southern Connecticut in 1989, he hired Deeley as an assistant, where they worked together for eight years."John Deeley Bio" – ''UConnHuskies.com''
Retrieved April 10, 2014. Reid brought Deeley with him when he came to UConn in 1997.

Head coaching record

References

External links

UConnHuskies.com Men's Soccer Coaching Staff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Ray 1960 births Living people American soccer coaches Men's association football players not categorized by position People from Brentwood, New York Soccer players from Islip (town), New York Southern Connecticut Owls men's soccer players UConn Huskies men's soccer coaches American men's soccer players Suffolk County Community College alumni Soccer players from New York (state) Southern Connecticut Owls men's soccer coaches