Thunderbirds men’s soccer coach reflects on his career at MCC
It’s the off season for Mesa Community College’s men’s soccer team. Twice a week, about 20 players turn out for practice on a patch of grass next to the school’s football field. This morning, they’re practicing passing under the watchful eyes of their coach.
“Part of my job as a coach is trying to help them,” said Brian Ronan. “They’re only here for two years. They have four years of eligibility.”
Brian has coached the Thunderbirds men’s soccer team since 2016. He was an assistant coach before that.
“When I was younger, the challenge was—I was so competitive and I wanted to win so badly that I was 100% focused on recruiting, recruiting, recruiting… Trying to get the best kids in here,” he explained.
Brian says recruiting is still about getting talent. But after 20 years of coaching soccer at the high school and college level, he’s also looking for guys that have the right approach.
“Sometimes the most talented kids are the kids that will hurt your team because their attitude isn’t where it needs to be,” he said.
Playing soccer in college can be all-consuming. Players train every weekday during the fall season. They have a morning schedule of training, weights and study hall sessions. Student athletes are required to take a minimum of 12 school credits.
“I try to get these guys bigger and stronger so that they can compete at a higher level and we try to improve them technically,” Brian said. “It’s all about sharpening on the margins, the things that you need to be better at.”
Getting good grades is also key for his student athletes. Brian says their grade point average can determine whether they get offered a scholarship to four-year schools.
“Grades are a huge part of what those schools look for,” he noted. “If you don’t have good grades, they’re not going to take you.”
MCC’s men’s soccer team started out the 2025 season with three wins, a loss and two ties. One of the ties was against Glendale Community College.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to get in there and play against a team that’s fast and physical and their fans get really loud,” said Brian.
Three years ago, the Thunderbirds tied and beat Glendale in a year in which they earned a top five national ranking. The team finished the 2022 season with a record of 13-5-1 and became the first Mesa team to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II National Tournament. During that time, they won one game and lost another.
Replicating a season like that isn’t easy. The Thunderbirds finished the 2025 season with a record of 4 wins, 4 ties and 7 losses. Winning is important for Brian, but so is developing responsible young men.
When he first started coaching, soccer was the most important thing. Now he focuses on being there for his family.
“I am now married with two kids and balancing—making sure that I make it to all my kids sporting events,” Brian said. “I’m there for my wife and my family, and still putting 110% into recruiting and building the best team I can.”
Ronan says finding balance in life is important.
“Whether you’re going to move on and play at a four-year school or whether or not you’re going to be done and move on with your life and focus on school rather than soccer,” he said, “I try to make sure that when we talk about potential, it’s the potential to be a really good person—a hard-working human being that is successful in school, life and soccer.”
For those with the potential to earn a four-year scholarship, Ronan helps them create a target school list, whether it’s at Division 1 schools, smaller Division 2 or even National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools. He’s developed a good pipeline to smaller colleges in Colorado like Fort Lewis in Durango or Regis and Metropolitan State in Denver.
The state of Arizona produces a lot of talented soccer players. That wasn’t the case long ago. Brian said there were once only four major youth soccer clubs in Arizona. Now there are more than 50.
“I can’t even stress, it’s just gotten so much bigger, so many more kids are playing soccer!” he exclaimed. “The population in Arizona has gotten so much bigger that it really has grown from kind of a small market to a really big one in Arizona.”
Brian thinks the sport can grow even bigger with the United States hosting the FIFA 2026 World Cup this year.
“I think that alone is gonna really spark growth for all the younger players as well as keeping a lot of the older people interested in watching the game,” said Brian.
