Mike Varga
251-648-3712
Mike Varga is the Head Coach of the University of South Alabama women’s soccer program. He is the program’s all-time winningest coach.
Coach Varga earned a monumental milestone in 2002 as he recorded his 100th career coaching victory. The season before, he reached a significant milestone as he became the winningest coach in Jag history.
ar as coach in 1999, Varga led the Jags to a 13-8 record in year two, a 9-8-1 campaign in season number three, a 9-10-3 mark for year No. 4, followed by a 6-12-3 record in 2003. In 2004, the Jags posted a 10-7-2 record. Varga followed that up with a 12-5-1 record in 2005, pushing his career record to 136-82-18. At USA, he is 71-57-11. The 2000 season became one of the more decorated years in Jag history as Varga guided the program to the co-regular season championship in the inaugural season of the Sun Belt Conference women’s soccer.
In 1994, Varga began an uphill battle when he was asked to stat a women’s program at Division II Lincoln Memorial University. He began with just one scholarship and virtually no local recruiting base. But that didn’t stop Varga. After winning seven games in the school’s inaugural campaign, Varga went on to lead his clubs to records of 10-9-1, 17-3-1, 17-2-2 and 14-3-2 over the next four years. His fourth season, the most successful one in LMU’s history, was the first time Lincoln Memorial had ever won a conference (Gulf South) championship in any sport. He followed that season with the team’s first-ever national ranking in 1998, a 10th-place showing in the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) poll. His time at Lincoln Memorial also included a stint coaching the men’s soccer program. Varga compiled a 50-45-4 record from 1994-1998. He also served on the ODP staff while in Tennessee.
In his five seasons as women’s coach at LMU, Varga recorded a 65-25-7 mark, which ranked fifth-best among Division II winning percentages following the 1998 season. Varga had a successful career while attending Ashland University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Philosophy. In four seasons at Ashland, he scored 52 goals. His playing career also includes stints in Europe and the United States Interregional Soccer League.
After his 1990 graduation, Varga immediately accepted an assistant coaching job at Ohio Northern University, a NCAA Division III program. While at ONU, he also directed the Mid-Ohio Premier Soccer Club, an under 17 boy’s team.
Varga has received a Premier Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. He has attained additional coaching diplomas and licenses through the NSCAA and USSF. He is an associate national staff member of the NSCAA, is the Alabama State Technical Coordinator for the NSCAA and was named the 2006 Adidas Youth Coach of the Year.
Varga is married to the former Stefanie Taylor. The couple has three children: Alli (5) and twins – Ethan and Kalee (2).