New coach overhauls boys soccer program at ‘University of North Allegheny’

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, September 10, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

As a soccer coach who’d reached the college ranks, Manuel Montero wasn’t interested in coaching high school soccer again, but North Allegheny’s unofficial nickname intrigued him.

“The University of NA,” he said. “That’s what attracted me.”

Montero had coached high school, club and college soccer on the West Coast before moving last winter to Western Pennsylvania, where he became a youth instructor and community outreach director for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

When he first heard about the NA coaching job, he wasn’t interested.

“I was kind of done with high schools,” said Montero, but he decided to do some research into North Allegheny and found it’s the largest school district in the WPIAL.

“Little by little, it started to grow on me. I said, ‘Hey, they’re huge.’ I started realizing how big it was, so I decided to go entertain the idea. After talking to (athletic director Bob Bozzuto), I saw our philosophies kind of aligned.”

A native of Columbia who lived in California since the age of 12, Montero, 35, was hired in May to reshape the NA boys soccer program. He took over a team that owns nine WPIAL titles, most recently in 2016 and 2017.

The Tigers went 14-6 last season and reached the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals.

“When he was first in here, I talked to him for an hour and I thought he was potentially a diamond in the rough,” Bozzuto said. “I liked his organization and I liked his energy. I looked at tape of his teaching and he’s fundamentally sound. I brought in some of my soccer coaches to see what they thought and everything was good.”

Montero is a sports psychologist with degrees in psychology, criminal justice, sports psychology and kinesiology. His master’s-level education influences how he coaches.

At North Allegheny, his focus is on the program’s culture, with an emphasis on effort and commitment. For example, he awards a stuffed tiger after each game to the player who led them in effort rather than an MVP award.

“I try for a positive culture and a winning mentality,” Montero said. “For me, that’s the driving factor for everything.”

There are more tangible changes, too.

At his request, the school acquired practice uniforms, so everyone is wearing the same outfit at workouts. Also, NA’s locker room is getting overhauled to look more like a small college facility.

“We’ve had so many changes,” Montero said. “At the beginning, the boosters and some of the parents said, ‘You’re not going to be able to do all of those things. What should we focus on?’ I said, ‘All of them.’ We haven’t been able to do 100% of what I want to do, but I’d say we’ve been able to execute 70%.”

Montero moved to Western Pennsylvania with his wife, Melissa, and 5-year-old son Santiago, in part to escape the exorbitant California real estate market. He has an uncle who lives here and recommended a house to them.

But that meant leaving the West Coast, where he’d coached for more than decade.

Most recently, Montero was head women’s coach at Lassen Community College in Susanville, Calif., but that program folded when covid restrictions hurt international recruiting. Prior to Lassen, he was a men’s assistant coach at De Anza College and head coach for the De Anza Force Club in Cupertino, Calif.

He served as a high school head coach at Westmont (2017-19), Cristo Rey (2016-17) and June Jordan (2013-16) in California. He also coached club teams at San Francisco United and Almaden FC.

The skill level of Western Pennsylvania soccer is “very different” than in California, he said, but that’s understandable because of factors beyond anyone’s control.

“The population is different,” he said, “and the weather. Over there, we practice year round.”

Along with coaching experience, Montero also served in the military. He enlisted in the U.S. Army from 2007-10 and later spent four years in the California National Guard.

He says his love of soccer started as a kid growing up in Columbia, where his great-grandfather founded a professional soccer club and served as team doctor.

So, soccer has always been a part of his life.

“In Columbia, soccer is the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 sport,” he said “There’s baseball and maybe some Olympic sports, but it’s all soccer for everyone else.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny