17. Graeme Abel: World Cup Duck

From the bottom to the top. That’s a good way to describe Oregon women’s soccer coach Graeme Abel’s career path. Abel played soccer at small schools in his first foray into American life and his move was a culture shock. Bye-bye big city. Hello rural Kentucky. Abel wound his way around the country as an assistant coach at Nevada, Washington State, and Oklahoma before securing the goalkeepers’ coach position with the U.S. Women’s National Team. His success with stars like Hope Solo helped project him into premiere coaching circles, and when Oregon came calling, it was too much for him to turn down. A boy from Liverpool is now the head women’s soccer coach in one of the nation’s best collegiate athletic departments and has helped the U.S. Women’s National Team to two World Cups and tremendous international success. But in the beginning, it took a leap of faith. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.