Xavier University Athletics
Xavier Nation Magazine Feature: Back in the Game
12.31.17 | Women's Soccer, Featured
Nate Lie is ready to take the women’s soccer team to the next level
Nate Lie is anything but a typical soccer coach.
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Lie (pronounced LEE), hired in May to lead Xavier's women's program, spent several years in the corporate world before pursuing a coaching career. All that time away from the game proved fortuitous, as he approached soccer with fresh eyes and an open mind.
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Success soon followed. The 39-year-old Pleasant Ridge resident helped invigorate the women's soccer program at his alma mater, Miami University, and went on to become associate head coach at the University of Cincinnati.
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"Due to my background, when making decisions, I base them more on logic or reason versus the status quo or what others are doing. As such, we tend to find out-of-the-box solutions," Lie says.
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Lie and his wife, Emily, have three kids: Michael, 5, Grace, 3, and Josh, 1. Here are more fun facts about XU's new coach:
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He played on Miami University's last men's soccer team. Lie was the RedHawks' team captain in 1999, when the university eliminated the men's soccer program. Although some players transferred, Lie was well into his finance and economic double major. He secured his first job during November of his senior year—at Bank of America—and considered his soccer ties finished.
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Oh, but they weren't. Lie still didn't know that, though, when he forayed into the corporate world. Before long he experienced a lack of fulfillment professionally. "It didn't feel right," Lie says. He researched volunteerism opportunities and applied at AmeriCorps.
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New adventure, new passion. Lie's first AmeriCorps team implemented an educational project in Sacramento, assisted the San Francisco Food Bank, and planted trees in Utah. The group traveled in a 15-person passenger van and had no access to TV. Lie loved that experience so much that he went on to volunteer in South Carolina. He eventually met his wife working on a Habitat for Humanity house in Florida. She was a University of Cincinnati student on an alternative spring break dedicated to service.
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Lie reconnected with his Miami soccer coach. Lie grew up loving sports and realized a career in athletics was the right fit. He met with his former coach, Bobby Kramig, who offered him an assistant coaching position with Miami's women's program in 2009. Kramig asked if Lie would like to know his salary. Lie said no. It wasn't about the money. "I literally accepted a job without knowing I was going to get paid," Lie says.
All he does is win. Lie's ability to see soccer through a different lens has helped two programs succeed. Miami went 54–26–5 with Lie on staff for four years; UC went 42–30–12. Although his last UC contract stipulated that he was the Bearcats head coach–in–waiting, Xavier presented an opportunity Lie couldn't refuse. He was drawn to the university's mission statement and the prospects of retooling a program that last had a winning season in 2013. "I've always looked at Xavier as a program that has great potential," Lie says. "I like a challenge." Â
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Lie (pronounced LEE), hired in May to lead Xavier's women's program, spent several years in the corporate world before pursuing a coaching career. All that time away from the game proved fortuitous, as he approached soccer with fresh eyes and an open mind.
Â
Success soon followed. The 39-year-old Pleasant Ridge resident helped invigorate the women's soccer program at his alma mater, Miami University, and went on to become associate head coach at the University of Cincinnati.
Â
"Due to my background, when making decisions, I base them more on logic or reason versus the status quo or what others are doing. As such, we tend to find out-of-the-box solutions," Lie says.
Â
Lie and his wife, Emily, have three kids: Michael, 5, Grace, 3, and Josh, 1. Here are more fun facts about XU's new coach:
Â
He played on Miami University's last men's soccer team. Lie was the RedHawks' team captain in 1999, when the university eliminated the men's soccer program. Although some players transferred, Lie was well into his finance and economic double major. He secured his first job during November of his senior year—at Bank of America—and considered his soccer ties finished.
Â
Oh, but they weren't. Lie still didn't know that, though, when he forayed into the corporate world. Before long he experienced a lack of fulfillment professionally. "It didn't feel right," Lie says. He researched volunteerism opportunities and applied at AmeriCorps.
Â
New adventure, new passion. Lie's first AmeriCorps team implemented an educational project in Sacramento, assisted the San Francisco Food Bank, and planted trees in Utah. The group traveled in a 15-person passenger van and had no access to TV. Lie loved that experience so much that he went on to volunteer in South Carolina. He eventually met his wife working on a Habitat for Humanity house in Florida. She was a University of Cincinnati student on an alternative spring break dedicated to service.
Â
Lie reconnected with his Miami soccer coach. Lie grew up loving sports and realized a career in athletics was the right fit. He met with his former coach, Bobby Kramig, who offered him an assistant coaching position with Miami's women's program in 2009. Kramig asked if Lie would like to know his salary. Lie said no. It wasn't about the money. "I literally accepted a job without knowing I was going to get paid," Lie says.
All he does is win. Lie's ability to see soccer through a different lens has helped two programs succeed. Miami went 54–26–5 with Lie on staff for four years; UC went 42–30–12. Although his last UC contract stipulated that he was the Bearcats head coach–in–waiting, Xavier presented an opportunity Lie couldn't refuse. He was drawn to the university's mission statement and the prospects of retooling a program that last had a winning season in 2013. "I've always looked at Xavier as a program that has great potential," Lie says. "I like a challenge." Â
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