Steve Negoesco, the coach with the most wins in intercollegiate soccer competition in the United States, has been selected as the 38th member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. His selection was announced by NSCAA President Barry Gorman.
“Steve’s success is well known by every college coach in America,” said Gorman. “His 39 years at the helm of the University of San Francisco program and his 544 wins are two marks that few coaches will ever approach. Add to that his four national championships and 13 conference championships, and you literally define a Hall of Fame coaching career.”
After 39 years at the helm of the University of San Francisco men’s soccer program, Negoesco retired following the 2000 season with 544 wins and four national championships to his name. He took over the USF program for an annual salary of $300 in 1962, succeeding his college coach, Gus Donoghue, who was inducted into the NSCAA Hall of Fame in 2001.
Negoesco guided the Dons to the national championship game seven times, winning four national titles (1966, 1975, 1976 and 1980) and taking runner-up in 1969 and 1977. A fifth title won in 1978 later was vacated due to the use of an ineligible player. In 1995, he became the first Division I soccer coach to post 500 career wins, closing his career with a 544-182-66 mark, an amazing .729 winning percentage.
Despite all of his success, Negoesco’s impact on college soccer extends beyond wins and championships. A driving force in the development of soccer on the West Coast, he was known for his innovation and for allowing his players to be creative and take chances. Showing that his love for soccer extends beyond the college game, Negoesco established the San Francisco Youth Soccer Program, guiding as many as 11 teams at one time while teaching junior high biology.
The son of a sailor, Negoesco was born in New Jersey in 1925. His mother’s passed away while he was a young child, and his father took him to live with an uncle in Romania. It was there that he discovered soccer, a sport that has served him well his entire life.
His skills helped him survive a Nazi labor camp at the age of 15. In postwar Romania, he played for two top teams before returning to the United States and settling in the San Francisco area. Enrolling at USF, he led the Dons to the co-national championship while becoming the first player from a West Coast school to earn All-America honors, a feat he achieved twice.
At the 2001 NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Negoesco represented his coach when Donoghue was unable to travel to accept his induction in to the Hall of Fame. Last year, Negoesco received the NSCAA's Bill Jeffrey Award, which is named for the late Penn State coach and recognizes long-term service to intercollegiate soccer.
Negoesco was formally inducted into the NSCAA Hall of Fame at the annual Awards Banquet held Friday evening, Jan. 17, 2003, in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, Mo. He will be enshrined in the NSCAA section of the National Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the Big 3 Weekend in Oneonta, N.Y., on Aug. 9.
