Joe Morrone, Legendary UConn Soccer Coach, Dies; Led Huskies For 28 Seasons – Hartford Courant

Former UConn soccer coach Joe Morrone, who had pancreatic cancer and was told in May he had three months to live, died Thursday morning at his home in Mansfield, surrounded by family members. Morrone, a member of the NSCAA Hall of Fame who built the program into a national power and won a national championship in 1981, was 79.

“He’s an icon,” UConn men’s soccer coach Ray Reid said. “He had his fingerprints on everything. He was one of the most influential guys in the country. He’s an icon in sports in Connecticut, and certainly an icon in American sports.”

When Morrone retired from coaching in 1996 after 39 seasons at UConn and Middlebury, he was one of only four collegiate head coaches to record at least 400 victories. He had a career record of 422-199-64.

“He was instrumental in the development of college soccer,” UConn women’s soccer coach and former player Len Tsantiris said. “From the very start of soccer he was very passionate and very involved in the town, state and nation developing the game. The soccer world has a lost a great man.”

Before Morrone, UConn’s soccer field was little more than a forgotten stretch of land on campus. But Morrone built a new field with his bare hands and turned the program into a powerhouse. He was the coach, the groundskeeper and gatekeeper for soccer at UConn, and later Connecticut.

“If he never came to Connecticut, everything would be different,” former UConn captain Joe Trager said. “I can’t think of anyone who has done as much. He built soccer in the state of Connecticut. He totally changed the rules.”