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Eric Pogue

Position: Head Coach Experience: 10th Season Alma Mater: Western Michigan, 2000

Eric Pogue is entering his third season as the head men's soccer coach at Oakland University. He has guided the team to both a Summit League regular season and tournament title in his first two seasons at the helm and has continued to the storied and successful tradition that is Oakland soccer. He has posted a record of 16-16-6 as head coach at Oakland.

Pogue is in his 10th season overall at Oakland, having served for seven seasons as assistant coach from 2002-08.

In the 2010 season, Pogue played one of the toughest schedules in the nation to prepare his team, as the Golden Grizzlies peaked at just the right time to win The Summit League Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament. It was the third Summit League Tournament title in OU program history and the first under Pogue's direction. The Golden Grizzlies finished the season in a hard-fought 2-0 loss at Michigan State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Pogue earned Summit League Coach of the Year honors in 2009, his first season in charge at OU. He posted a 5-1-1 league record and 9-5-3 overall record en route to claiming The Summit League regular season championship.

Prior to Oakland, Pogue served as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Western Michigan University. He has also been working as a goalkeeper trainer since 1994 with area high schools, the Troy Premier Soccer Association, TKO Soccer Club of Portage/Kalamazoo, Bloomfield Hills Soccer Club and the Mid-Michigan Bucks. In addition, Pogue has served as either a camp director or coach at the Detroit Country Day Academy, Midwest Soccer Camps, Mid-Michigan Bucks Soccer School, Western Michigan, Oakland and Detroit Rockers Soccer Camp.

Pogue also serves as a assistant head coach for a pair of youth teams in the Vardar Soccer Club, working with the u18 Academy team and u13 age groups. Pogue also serves as a head coach for a pair of youth teams in the Vardar Soccer Club, working with the 1994 and 1996 age groups, as well as serving as the goalkeeping director of the club. He has served on the US Region II Regional ODP staff since 2005 and is also a member of the Michigan State ODP staff. Pogue holds a USSF "B" coaching license and received his USSF National Goalkeeper license in 2009.

A fifth-round pick in the 2001 MLS Super Draft by the New England Revolution, Pogue came to Oakland after playing stints with the Revolution and the Dallas Burn. Pogue has continued his playing career in the USL Premier Development League. His PDL experience began in 1996 with a two-season stint for the Detroit Dynamite before moving to the Bucks' club in 1998-2000 and for the 2002 season. His continuous PDL play to date includes two seasons with the Toledo Slayers (2003-04) and the 2005 season with the Chicago Fire Premier, earning the All-PDL Goalkeeper award for five seasons. Pogue has played for the Kalamazoo Kingdom/TKO of the PDL for the past two summers.

A Troy Athens High School standout, Pogue played four years at WMU after redshirting at Oakland in 1995. Pogue started all four seasons for the Broncos and was named team captain and earned MVP honors for his final three seasons. He graduated from WMU in 2000 with a Bachelor's degree in finance and accounting and also holds an MBA from Oakland.

In addition to his coaching and recruiting duties, Pogue also serves as the head camp director for the summer program that serves more than 900 campers each year.