EXCLUSIVE: Meet KU's new soccer coach on K-Nation
LAWRENCE (KSNT) - KU women's soccer has a new head coach after being led by Mark Francis for 25 years.
Francis retired in October. Kansas hired Nate Lie, who was the head coach at Xavier for seven seasons, in December.
Lie sat down with 27 Sports Director Glenn Kinley for a one-on-one interview, which aired in Sunday's K-Nation.
"We had a pretty good thing going at Xavier. It was a really, really hard place to leave for me personally," Lie said. "They treated me well... Cincinnati is home for my family... It was going to take a special, special opportunity to get us to leave Xavier and Cincinnati and I very much believe that this is the one."
He says a recruiting hub like Kansas City near the school was just one of many reasons KU was an attractive destination.
"I think Kansas athletics is at, I've had many people say this to me, the most exciting point in a long time, maybe ever," he said. "That's probably due, a lot, to the leadership of [athletic director] Travis Goff."
Lie calls Rock Chalk Park, where his team will play home games, one of the nicest facilities in the country.
He had a career before coaching soccer. He spent professional time working in finance and community service. He says that experience, although not related to his sport, prepared him greatly for this role. He developed two major skillsets in those jobs: Working in business helped him become detail oriented and proficient and managerial tasks. Working in community service taught him many things about managing a team.
Click here for Sunday night's full K-Nation episode.