By: Sean Cartell
SEC Digital Network
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Perspective.
It’s a word that new Tennessee head soccer coach Brian Pensky tosses around a lot. With the success he’s recently had leading the Maryland program, one might assume it would be easy for Pensky to lose his perspective. But that is something he is decidedly sure will not happen.
“I wish that I could wake up every day and give myself an injection of perspective because it’s so easy to lose,” Pensky said. “One of my first goals in dealing with our team is to make sure they know how lucky they are.”
Pensky led his team to a 67-52-20 record during his tenure at Maryland, which began in 2005. He led the Terrapins to their most successful three-year run in program history with a 44-14-9 (.724) tally over the past three seasons.
And yet he was drawn away from what he once called his “dream job” to the University of Tennessee for, among many things, its vast availability of resources for all sports, including tremendous support for the sport of women’s soccer.
“It’s all here for us,” Pensky said on Monday at Regal Soccer Stadium, where he was formally introduced as the program’s head coach. “From an academic standpoint to a personal standpoint, when I think about what we have at our beck and call in terms of the sports psychology program here, the nutrition resources we have here, sports medicine, strength and conditioning … it’s all first-class and top-notch.”
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Maryland isn’t just the name of his most recent employer on Pensky’s resume.
Not only the university, but the state are special to the Terrapins’ former head coach. The 43-year-old Pensky has spent just four years of his life outside of the Old Line State, that being the quartet of years he spent at Emory University in Atlanta, playing soccer and earning his bachelor’s degree in economics.
He began his coaching career at the high school level in the state of Maryland before serving as a women’s assistant at George Washington and a men’s assistant at both Loyola (Md.) and the University of Maryland, before being named the Terps’ head women’s soccer coach in 2005.
Pensky never expected to leave.
“This is a big move for me,” Pensky said. “I thought I was going to die in the state of Maryland; I thought I was going to retire at the University of Maryland. It did take at the end of the day, a special situation to take me away from Maryland. I’ve been in the state of Maryland for 39 of the 43 years of my life.”
And given Pensky’s success, who really thought he ever would leave?
He was the 2010 Soccer America National Coach of the Year and also earned Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors that season. Pensky guided Maryland to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last three seasons, including Sweet 16 appearances in both 2009 and 2011.
But when he arrived in Knoxville, he knew there was something unique about the University of Tennessee. He knew it was a place he needed to be; something he needed to be a part of. Pensky was reminded of that Tuesday as he looked out in the crowd at his press conference at Regal Soccer Stadium and saw the support so typical of the Lady Vol program.
“Maybe this is normal for you guys to look out and see all these people here who care, but it’s not normal to me,” Pensky said. “In the bigger picture of life, it’s not normal. You’re not going to go to every program and see this kind of investment and this type of care for the student-athlete. If we haven’t already, we need to embrace it and love it right now, because we’re all very, very fortunate.”
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Still, with all of the positives about Tennessee, Pensky wasn’t sure he was willing to leave Maryland. Loyalty is important to him and he didn’t know how he would leave a place that he loved and he feared telling his Terrapin players.
His wife, Abby, was the one who encouraged him to follow his new dream. She likened the experience to jumping into a pool.
“The most important moments were a few when my wife said, ‘It’s like jumping into a pool. You’re going to jump in and it’s going to be cold at first and a little uncomfortable, but then it’s going to be warm and you’re going to be in heaven. You’ve just got to jump,’” Pensky said. “I thought about that and I thought about taking that jump. We kept talking about how much the people here seem to care. The emotions were very, very high, but it was just about getting over that hump and saying yes.”
And while the potential for success and unlimited opportunities may have been what steered Pensky towards Tennessee, it’s the people that made the decision for him.
“We have all of these resources, but it comes back to the people,” Pensky said. “All the greatness that is going to happen, someday is going to end and it’s going to be all about people and relationships. I knew that the people here care. I want to be in an environment where everybody takes pride all the time.
“It’s a very good program. I wouldn’t be here if we couldn’t achieve the same, if not more at the University of Tennessee. We can be outstanding here and I’m excited to be outstanding.”