Former US Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis and new UO soccer coach Graeme Abel

Lost amid the noise and hype that came with the Ducks appearing in the Rose Bowl was one major hiring announcement: the UO soccer team has a new coach, and his résumé is seriously impressive.

Graeme Abel was hired December 30 to turn around a program that has gone 36-52-8 over the last five years (11-41-3 in Pac-12 play) and hasn’t had a winning season since 2006.

So what does the newest head coach at the UO bring to the table? How about four years as an assistant under Jill Ellis with the US Women’s National Team, a period that included two World Cup titles (2015 and 2019), two CONCACAF titles (2016 and 2018), and one Olympics appearance (2016).

Add to that coaching stints with the U-20 and U-17 US Women’s National Teams, and NCAA Tournament appearances with the Oklahoma Sooners (2014) and Washington State Cougars (2011), and a picture begins to form of a man who is used to winning at the highest levels.

“We were incredibly fortunate to be able to hire one of the top coaches in the country at any level, be it college, professional, or international,” said UO director of athletics Rob Mullens. “Graeme’s experience coaching some of the best soccer players in the world, his commitment to the student-athlete experience, and his vision to elevate Oregon soccer to an elite level made him the perfect fit. We are excited to welcome Graeme and his family to the Ducks’ family.”

Abel grew up in Liverpool and was on the books at Everton FC from 1994 until 1997. A goalkeeper, Abel’s odds of getting first-team football with the Toffees were practically nil, though, as the Merseyside squad already had Neville Southall in goal—a keeper who made 578 appearances for Everton and a further 92 for the Welsh national team during a glittering career that saw him named the club’s “all-time cult hero” and one of World Soccer magazine’s “Greatest Players of the 20th Century.”

Abel left Everton to ply his trade with Stockport County FC, but after two years in Stockport he packed up his kit bag and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to enroll at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. He was named an NAIA All-American as a freshman, and received the 1999 NAIA National Tournament MVP award after leading the Blue Raiders to the national championship.

Another stint in England followed, but Abel was soon back in the USA, earning NAIA All-America honors and Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year honors for Brescia University in Owensboro, Kentucky.

“I came over initially just for six months,” said Abel. “But then I really loved the American lifestyle. Education wasn’t overly valued in the UK back then. I thought I’d walk away with a four-year degree no matter what, and I could still go back to the UK. But I never went back.”

While playing at Brescia, Abel began coaching at a local club in Owensboro, Kentucky. He enjoyed the challenge and wanted to continue on the sidelines, and after graduating from Brescia, the Bearcats named him a graduate assistant. That only lasted one year, though, as the University of Nevada then came calling with a full-time position—a job that opened his eyes for a reason that would seem unfathomable now.

“At that time, 1999–2000, the English Premier League was still pretty primitive in terms of resources and things like that,” Abel said of what is now the world’s most valuable football league by some distance. “There were universities in the US that had more advanced medical departments and performance departments. When I got to the Division I level, it was, “Wow.” The factors were unbelievable in terms of resources and standards.”

Abel was an assistant coach at the University of Nevada from 2005 to 2007, assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma from 2008 to 2009, assistant coach at Washington State University from 2010 to 2011, and associate head coach at the University of Oklahoma from 2012 to 2015.

As a player and coach, Abel was used to making quick decisions in the heat of the moment, a skill that came in handy when Ellis offered him a job with the US Women’s National Team—one week before the team’s first warmup match ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“Jill called, and said, ‘Hey, we’re playing France on Saturday’—this was a Monday—‘I’ve just lost my goalkeeping coach. Any chance you can fly to France tomorrow?’,” said Abel.

“I went and it just evolved from there. Stayed primarily as a goalkeeper coach through 2015, then after the World Cup became a full-time assistant.”

Placed in charge of the US goalkeepers, Abel oversaw shutouts in seven of the team’s first 10 matches, including a 1-0 win over England and a 2-0 win over France. The Americans then didn’t lose a match during the World Cup, and only conceded three goals during the entire tournament—one in a 3-1 win over Australia in their first match, and two in a 5-2 win over Japan in the final.

Not that Abel remembers much of it.

“With the national team during the tournament you accept that it’s 19–20-hour days, you live on four hours of sleep,” he said. “The entire tournament was a blur.”

The following year saw the USWNT win the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, a tournament in which the team did not concede a single goal, while Hope Solo was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper. 2018? Another CONCACAF title, and another tournament where the USWNT did not concede a single goal.

Coaching with Ellis and the USWNT was hugely informative for Abel, who soaked the lessons in and learned as much as he could about coaching at the highest level.

“You prepare like no other, because anything you do leave to chance at that level will be exposed,” he said.

By the time the 2019 World Cup rolled around, Abel’s coaching portfolio with the USWNT had expanded to include—in addition to still coaching the goalkeepers—defending set pieces, penalties, and breaking down game film and setting up training graphics.

Around this time, Abel considered striking out on his own and getting a head coaching position. Ellis advised him to wait until after the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, reasoning that a second World Cup trophy would make him even more appealing to potential teams.

Naturally enough, 2019 brought another World Cup title—one in which the USWNT kept three clean sheets in pool play, and a fourth in the final—and, in December, a phone call from UO senior associate athletic director Lisa Peterson.

“Lisa Peterson had gotten hold of my résumé, and called me up and said, ‘Would you be interested in the University of Oregon?’,” Abel said. “I was like, absolutely. That was on a Friday, and I came over and interviewed the following Friday, and agreed to be the head coach that night. Seven days from when we first spoke to being the head coach here.”

Abel had a new contract with US Soccer waiting for him if he wanted to put pen to paper, but instead, opted to return to the Pacific Northwest. In addition to his years coaching at Washington State, his wife, the former Katie Schoene, played at Portland State and was a volunteer assistant at the UO in 2007—a season the Ducks opened with a 1-0 win over Abel’s Nevada Wolfpack.

“They didn’t have to have much of a sales pitch,” said Abel. “I’d done my research on it. When I got here, just the feel of the people and what they want from the program. I knew the resources and the facilities from the outside, but once I got on the inside and met with the people, that was what really sold it.”

“Graeme was an integral part of our two World Championships and it was a privilege to work alongside him,” said Ellis. “He is a world-class coach and an outstanding person, and we wish him the very best in his new endeavor at the University of Oregon.”

“I had the very good fortune of being coached by Graeme for several years on the National Team,” said Becky Sauerbrunn, two-time World Cup champion with the US Women’s National Team. “His attention to detail, his unwillingness to allow any standard to drop, and his competitiveness were instrumental in our team’s success. Oregon has gained one of the best coaches in the game.”

“Because of the people, the place, and the potential, I’ve been wowed, I really have,” said Abel. “This place has been phenomenal. I can’t wait to really get going.”