Originally published in Westminster Review magazine (Spring 2013). From 2012 to 2014, Jeremy Pugh served as consulting editor for Westminster College’s alumni magazine, working with the school to improve the editorial quality and impact of its flagship publication. Co-written with Robin Boon. Portraits by Chris Jameson.
Coach Chris Dorich prides himself on mentoring good players into great ones. “Our kids come here for academics first, soccer second,” he says. “But soccer is a thinking man’s game.”
Coach Dorich is an imposing figure. From across a soccer field, he’s this thick, brick wall of man stalking the field. By the looks of his shaved pate and his broad, old-school gangster build, you’d expect him to growl at you from behind clenched teeth. But underneath that hard-scaled exterior, he’s more Fred Mertz than Murder Inc, more Tony Bennett than Tony Soprano, and he has fought his way to the wilderness and back to make Westminster’s soccer program the envy of like schools everywhere.
Dragon Slaying
Dorich doesn’t volunteer much, but if you ask him what he loves the most about coaching, he gets a big grin that crinkles all the way to the top of his head, like the Grinch planning to steal Christmas. “I love knockin’ those big teams down with my guys; I love slaying dragons.”
And it’s true. Dorich is well known for finding talent and mentoring it along. He attributes his success to the excellence of Westminster students who choose the school to excel at academics first—and to play soccer second. Dorich’s teams over the last 28 years have boasted a staggering 100 academic all-star National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Scholar-Athletes on their collective rosters, giving the hard-working coach a smart bunch of kids to develop into hard-fighting players on the pitch.
“These kids are good at school; they excel in the classroom. We take kids who wouldn’t have a chance to play at the big, powerhouse schools, recruit them for their academics, and then, then we make them into better soccer players…and we beat the big guys!”
And some of the big guys didn’t take kindly to that. In fact, when Westminster beat an NCAA Division II school (read: stacked with European ringers), they never wanted to play us again because losing to us hurt their rankings, not to mention their pride. But some time after the drubbing, they did ask to come to Westminster for a tourney: to play two games on our field with other schools and get free room and board. Guess what our answer was? “Nope,” Dorich chuckles.
Immigrant Son
The Dorich family arrived in America from Poland. His Polish/Czech/Slavic roots produce industrious, highly skilled, driven people who relish a challenge—the tougher, the better. Dorich’s first job was in his father’s machine shop, where he worked Saturdays. But at noon, the men headed out for a beer and left him to his own devices. He fixed whatever needed it, including lawnmowers. He learned to take nothing for granted. Anything he wanted, he’d have to work very hard for.
Education was expected, mandated. That and a good work ethic helped him get things done and done right. Growing up in this strong immigrant culture made him a better coach, he says. And it probably made him a better engineer, too.
That’s right. Dorich is a mechanical engineer who spent his off-field career designing military communications equipment for local defense contractor Sperry Univac (now L–3 Communications). He boasts secret government clearance and a host of equally secret patents and designs for gear that, well, he can’t really talk about. “I tell my players that I have secret clearance, so if they can’t trust me, they can’t trust anyone.”
He began his college soccer career at Edinboro State University in Pennsylvania in 1968, and he graduated from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania (he also played and coached), having earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 1975. Midstream in his education, Dorich also served his country during the Vietnam war. As a member of the US Coast Guard stationed with the US Marines, he repaired electronics and managed construction and demolition. It was probably the only time in his adult life where he didn’t play (or coach) soccer.
In 1984 Sperry Univac came calling, and he moved to Salt Lake, coaching soccer for Westminster. Soccer and engineering went hand-in-hand from then on. While the sheer love of soccer (“the fever,” as he calls it) was reason enough to coach, as it turns out, soccer was also a great way to offset the stress of a very high-tech engineering career. Decades later, walls of trophies, an MBA and an MBATM (technology management) from Westminster, and a Technology Management Certificate from Cal-Tech adorn his endearingly cluttered office. He retired last year from his job as Director of Transition Engineering at L–3 Communications. But for the last 29 years (28 seasons), he has been Westminster’s men’s soccer coach. Now he’s full-time at Westminster, splitting his time between coaching and his job with the Admissions Office, and he’s as happy as a striker taking a penalty kick. He refers to Westminster as his “second home,” and you can tell when he’s “home” by the big red pickup truck parked on the back side of Payne Gymnasium.
No Slackers Here
Westminster plays in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) conference. If you’ve heard of the NCAA, the NAIA is a sort of little brother, but for smaller schools like Westminster. On November 30, 2012, the NAIA recognized athletes around the country and announced that during the 2012 season, Westminster finished with the most scholar-athletes, a total of nine. This is a considerable victory, because some of the NAIA schools Westminster competes against have twice the number of students.
Dorich loves to win, but he’s really all about balance. Student-athletes are expected to graduate and get a job, not become professional soccer players (although some do), so while he pushes them to excel at soccer, he won’t overdo it. His office walls are lined with trophies and photos, but he’s proudest of the extraordinary 100 Scholar-Athletes. To be a Scholar-Athlete requires junior or senior standing and a minimum 3.50 GPA. Dorich prefers higher GPAs. Soccer, after all, is a very cerebral sport. “For an electrical engineer, my old company wouldn’t even look at you without a 3.8 GPA,” he says. “The world has only gotten more competitive.”
Among his soccer players who went on to outstanding careers is a Marine Corps general, Charles (Chuck) Chiarotti (’85), psychology major, currently the Deputy Commander of US Marine Forces in Europe and Africa. His daughter, Lia (’14), is currently a Westminster student.
Some players have opted to play professional soccer as their first career. Today about 20 Griffins have gone on to play Major League Soccer (MLS). In fact, one team had eight players go to the MLS. Among them, Billy Sedgewick (’94), finance major, Academic All-American, played pro on multiple US and Canadian teams; and in 2010, he became assistant coach for the Rochester Rhinos. Todd Miller (’95), math/computer science major, played for the Milwaukee Rampage, the Columbus Crew, the Charleston Battery; he currently plays for the amateur team, Olympique Montreux, based out of Salt Lake City.
But who coached the coach? Among those who really made a difference in his soccer playing and coaching is Edinboro University coach, George Shimpeno—the one who “got him into the fever” of soccer. Dorich calls it the era of the “Soccer Mafia,” when it became The Game in that part of the country. Then he and John Granish, also feverish and a best friend, played, coached, and learned a lot from each other at St. Vincent. Closer to home, Horst Richardson, from Colorado College, gives coaching clinics at Westminster and is now in a remarkable 47th coaching season there. Soccer coaching is apparently an addictive occupation.
The Coach in Exile
Westminster underwent some lean years, and for a time, soccer was the only sport on campus. There were occasional hurdles: one, dramatic. On a sunny day in 1997, Coach Dorich and his team, as they did every day, headed toward the field for practice. Dumbfounded, they stood there looking at a plowed field ready for planting, not soccer. It turns out that the field had to be plowed to ultimately become a temporary parking lot because new construction was replacing the current lot. While this information was common knowledge in some departments, it had not been made clear to the athletic department. So Dorich scrambled to wrangle a new home for Westminster soccer at the West Jordan Soccer Complex, and for nine long years, they practiced and played soccer in exile.
Practice for five days a week was held in Rose Park, about 10 miles from Westminster. On the weekends, the games were held in West Jordan, almost 20 miles away. Those 140 miles per week put a damper on enthusiasm. Fewer people attended the games, but the upside of this adventure was the quality of fields at the soccer complex. Compared to the (plowed) field, one that had been designed for football, the complex had far better (and softer) surfaces that were designed specifically for soccer. Dorich says, “The West Jordan complex was just a great soccer atmosphere. We played a lot of really good games there. Sure, it was hard to get crowds, but players had some dedicated friends, and their families would all show up to cheer us on.”
Probably no one at Westminster was happier, however, when the state-of-the-art Dumke Field opened in 2005. The team, the coach, and the fans reveled in their short walk, rather than their long drive, to root for the Griffins.
“National Coach of the Year” Is No Joke
Unless you are a rabid soccer/Coach Dorich fan, you may not know that he has yet another outlet for soccer: the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). This premier national (amateur) soccer organization’s tagline explains just part of what they do: “Soccer—your game for life.” When the varsity season ends, many college players play in the USASA. Recognized by the US Olympic Committee, the organization is also the governing body for soccer across the country.
Dorich was recently named National Staff Coach for the USASA. At this high level, he will conduct Region IV Select Team training camps at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, as well as the National Select Team training camps at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.
It’s probably that kind of “coaching in exile” grit and dedication to the sport (and to Westminster) that helped earn him the National Coach of the Year, Region IV by the USASA. Not only does your region (your peers) vote for you, but the rest of the country’s regions have to vote as well. He was honored, but surprised, to receive the national award.
His wife, Kathy, a K–12 teacher, isn’t surprised. She, above all, knows his tenacity and dedication. “Chris and I will have been married 38 years this August. Soccer has been part of our lives since the beginning. At times, I felt soccer took priority over everything else in his life, but I have long resigned myself to the fact soccer will forever be part of who Chris is.” Son, Brian, a chemist who is working on his MBATM at Westminster, echoes his mother, “Soccer has always been with us and with my dad. Soccer is his passion.”
All of the years, the time, and the energy that Coach Dorich has given Westminster soccer is mind-boggling. He is as much of a fixture on campus as Payne Gymnasium. His record is legendary. In an office crammed with trophies, photographs, and memories—all evidence of his extraordinary talent and dedication—Dorich keeps it going from amid the clutter, holding court each year to a new contingent of unmolded young men, eager to slay dragons.
“The future of Westminster is to provide excellence in critical thinking, the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it,” he says. “We should strive to impart these outcomes to our students: a high quality of knowledge, achievement, and competence. Educational endeavors are the future of the nations around the world. I will always have soccer fever. That is a fever that never dies. And soccer is a universal participation sport. While not as specialized as the NFL or the NBA, it provides an activity to a larger base of the world’s populations, and soccer can be used as a segue for world education.”
Stats: Coach Chris Dorich
- 29 years men’s soccer coach
- 20 years Executive Vice President of Utah Soccer Association
- Class A and B coaching licenses
- State Coaching Director for Utah Soccer Association
- 21 out of 28 years qualified for NAIA Playoffs
- 265 career victories — 22nd in NAIA history all-time, 10th among active coaches
- 18 winning seasons
- Since 2005, no losing seasons
- United States Adult Soccer Association National Staff Coach