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Eric Pogue

Position: Head Coach Experience: 11th Season Alma Mater: Western Michigan, 2000

Eric Pogue recently concluded his fourth season as the head coach at Oakland. Pogue led the 2012 Golden Grizzlies to a regular season league title and was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.

As the head coach at OU, Pogue has won over 70 percent of his league matches, with a 16-5-5 record in Summit League play. He has won two regular season titles and one league tournament championship. The Golden Grizzlies have an overall record of 33-35-8 under his direction.

Pogue is in his 11th season overall at Oakland, having served for seven years as an assistant coach from 2002-08.

In the 2010, the Golden Grizzlies won 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.

In his first season in charge at OU Pogue was named Summit League Coach of the Year. Oakland posted a 5-1-1 league record and finished 9-5-3 overall, while winning The Summit League regular season title.

Pogue also serves as an assistant head coach for a pair of youth teams at Vardar Academy, where he won a under-18 US Developmental Academy National Championship in 2010. 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.

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 Michigan Bucks. In addition, Pogue has served as either a camp director or coach at the Detroit Country Day Academy, Midwest Soccer Camps, Michigan Bucks Soccer School, Western Michigan, Oakland and Detroit Rockers Soccer Camp.

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.