A little less than nine years ago, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team celebrated a NCAA championship, knocking off Duke 2-0 to capture the first national title in the program’s history.

A year later, Jim Launder, the man who had guided the Badgers to the pinnacle of college soccer success, was fired. After five tedious seasons under coach Kalekeni Banda, UW decided that another change needed to be made. Enter Jeff Rohrman, at that time an assistant coach at perennial powerhouse Maryland. Rohrman inherited a program in 2002 that had alienated many.

“It was evident when I got here that there were some relationships that had to be reestablished and some connections that had to be made again,” Rohrman said. “One of the first things we did was just to connect with the soccer people in Madison and connect with the people in Milwaukee, because obviously having spent a few years there, we had some good soccer people there that we knew and everything else. So, that was our first step.”

Rohrman’s soccer experience in the Dairy State began as a player. After playing a pair of seasons at two year school Bethany Lutheran in Minnesota, Rohrman moved on to UW-Milwaukee.

“Milwaukee at the time was kind of ‘the program’,” Rohrman said. “They were the program that at the time was kind of at the forefront in this area. The program here, I was recruited to come here, (former Wisconsin head coach Jim) Launder had called me, but it wasn’t as funded as it was today, and at the time, Milwaukee was the program that was kind of on the map, and had made the tournament a couple of times and everything else.”

Rohrman went on to have quite the career as a Panther, posting the eighth highest career assist total in only two years. After his days at Milwaukee ended, Rohrman played professionally for both the Milwaukee Wave (American Indoor Soccer League) and Real Santa Barbara (Western Soccer League).

“I think the chance to play beyond college was certainly nice,” Rohrman said. “But at the time, there wasn’t an MLS. The NASL had just folded. All there was was indoor, and indoor’s a little bit of a different game. The salaries weren’t great, a lot of guys needed second jobs to make it work, especially the young guys. There was just a whole lot of insecurity in the pro game at that time, so it wasn’t quite as exciting as a pro career today is. But, I was fortunate enough to have a couple of years where I could play beyond college and play at a high level there.”

Following his pro career, Rohrman began a coaching odyssey at Bethany Lutheran College. He then moved on to Chicago where he worked for the U.S. Soccer Federation. Then it was back to the collegiate ranks at the U.S. Naval Academy before he headed to his last job before Wisconsin as an assistant coach at Maryland. Rohrman, however, says that his interest in coaching began long before his hiring at Bethany Lutheran.

“Well, I think early on, even when I was playing at UWM, I went in there assuming that one, coach was going to be there my junior year when I got there, and midway through my sophomore year, I got word that that coach got fired,” Rohrman said. “So, there was a bit of uncertainty as far as going in, and then it so happened that coach Bob Gansler was given the job, and it turned out to be almost a tutorial in coaching for two years to play under him. So that was great, to have him as kind of a mentor, and kind of like I said, give you a bit of a tutorial of what coaching’s all about. It really opened my eyes to that as a profession.”

In 1995, Rohrman settled at Maryland, where he would serve as an assistant for the next seven seasons under the legendary Sasho Cirovski, also a former UW-Milwaukee player.

“Well, what (coaching at a place like Maryland) does, is it gives you an idea of what is possible, and what can be,” Rohrman said. “And I think that more than anything it gives you that frame of reference of what’s out there and where you can really take yourself as a player and as a team.”

In his first three seasons in Madison, Rohrman has overseen the rebuilding of the Badger program. While Wisconsin’s record under Rohrman currently stands at 23-24-1, a renewed enthusiasm has attracted talented recruits and given the Badgers an infusion of young talent.

“I think it’s all about relationships and getting to know the kids,” Rohrman said about his recruiting. “I can’t speak just for me, because both [assistant coaches] Jon [Szczepanski] and Nick [Pasquarello] are a big part of what we’re doing. I think the guys will tell you that we care about the guys a great deal. We have fun with them, but at the same time we challenge them and push them, and certainly want them to be successful in all areas of their lives.”

The team’s theme for this year is “Going to the Big Dance,” and while the Badgers are struggling to show the consistency need to meet that goal, Rohrman likes what this group can accomplish.

“I think this year we’re a team that can play with the top teams in the country,” Rohrman said. “I think we’ve demonstrated that in the first few weeks. I think people have noticed how we’ve competed with the Tulsa’s and the Creighton’s. At the same time, we drop one here and there that may leave people wondering a little bit. I like this team, I think we’ve got a lot of very good players and good team spirit, good team chemistry and we’re capable of doing some good things.”

While the Badgers may not reach their ultimate goal this year, Rohrman has the program on the right path. With the talented young players coming in, there are big things on the horizon for Wisconsin soccer.

“Ultimately down the road, my goal is to get this program on a regular, consistent level where we’re competing nationally and competing for national championships,” Rohrman said. “That’s ultimately my goal, it’s the coaching staff’s goal and it’s the players’ goals.”