“This is home”: Szabo’s return as head coach

Sololiya Ebba | The Chronicle 

The Mason Men’s Soccer team, holders of two Greater Miami Conference championships in the past three years, is kicking off the 2024-2025 season with a familiar face on the sidelines.

Following the departure of the previous head coach, Nate Baer, former JV Green coach Garrett Szabo took charge of the successful program last spring. On top of his duties at Mason, Szabo has been the head coach at Cincinnati Premier United since 2020 and was recognized as the All-City Assistant Coach of the Year in the 2023-2024 season.

Spending two years as the JV Green Coach, Szabo has succeeded as a Mason coach. The Comets came out on top of the Greater Miami Conference during both seasons of which he was the JV coach. Outside of the green and white, he was named National, Ohio, and Midwest Regional Competitive Coach of Year in 2020.

However, a lot of pressure comes with being the head coach of one of the largest Division One programs in Ohio, and the role means a little more to Szabo.

“Getting the opportunity to lead this program has been an honor,” Szabo said. “It’s a very full circle story for me, being an alumnus myself.”

As a member of William Mason High School’s 2008 graduating class, Szabo embraces the varsity coaching role at his alma mater with an understanding of the community and his players, as well as an excitement for the upcoming season. Under the leadership of former head coaches Jay Reuter and Paul Reedy, Szabo’s love for the game grew throughout his high school career and ultimately led him back to the same field he played on 17 years ago.

“There’s a lot of pressure surrounding my success as head coach,” Szabo said. “I feel like my personal connections that I have, not only with the players but more so even my understanding of this program’s history has led me to a little bit of a love for the program that I just don’t have for anywhere else.”

Junior captain Mitch Crissman has played for Coach Szabo for the majority of his high school career, creating a connection that shows itself on and off the field. During his freshman year, Crissman played on JV Green under Szabo and then went on to swing Varsity as a sophomore. His junior year brings him back under the leadership of Szabo.

“I’m always texting him,” Crissman said. “He brings up stuff with me. Whether I’m in the game or off the field, I’m always communicating with him, and making sure we’re on the same page with the other players on the team.”

Crissman played for Kings Hammer Youth Club under Coach Szabo when he was in 8th grade. With this previous teamwork experience, Szabo and Crissman have established a dynamic that shows itself on and off the field. Now, a captain and the starting center back on the varsity soccer team, and is thrilled to have Szabo on the sidelines.

“Everything he does is with intent,” Crissman said. “He doesn’t make a decision that isn’t meant to impact the game in some way. He’s very direct, and he knows what he wants to do with each player on the field.”

Filling a head coaching position, especially at a program like Mason’s that has 11 GMC league titles, is never easy, and comes with its own set of challenges. Scott Stemple, who has been the Athletic Director for Mason for the past 19 years, played a role in Szabo’s hiring. Although it is not the defining factor in the employment process, having the word ‘alumnus’ on his resume lit Szabo’s path to the head coaching role.

“I like to say he’s one of ours,” Stemple said. “If we have somebody that’s one of ours, meaning they graduated from here, I think it makes our consideration even better.”

Throughout training this summer, Szabo reminded his players often to “redefine challenge.” But it was not just his players that were taking on challenges. Filling the shoes of Nate Baer, who was named the National Federation of State High Schools Coach of the Year in 2019, was not an easy task. Szabo took his own advice and redefined that challenge for himself.

“[Baer] and I worked very well together,” Szabo said. “We saw the game kind of the same, but our approaches were a little bit different. Being able to take his philosophy and continue with it, while adding in my own little bit of flavor, has been a fun experience.”

Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable trend among Mason’s varsity soccer coaches. They get hired, have a couple of successful seasons, and the next opportunity comes along followed by a new head coach. Athletic Director Scott Stemple believes that coach longevity is directly correlated to whether or not a coach is a staff member in the district.

“When you have a lack of [coach] longevity, it’s either because they’re not successful or they’re not teaching in the building,” Stemple said. “I think it’s harder to have successful programs across the board when you have less longevity.”

However, Coach Szabo intends to stick with the program for as long as possible. While he had led Mason’s JV Green team for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, obtaining the head coaching position has meant the world to him. Additionally, his history with the Comets allows him to bring a unique and understanding perspective to his players, not only the game of soccer.

“This is my home,” Szabo said. “It’s where I grew up. Deerfield Town Center wasn’t even around back when I was coming to school. So being able to have that connection to [the players], on a personal level, provides a little bit of love.”

One of the most valuable parts of a good coach is the lessons they teach you off the field. Athletes in any sport have heard the general motivation from their coaches: Work hard. Stay in shape. Play at the top of your game. Be good people. Szabo takes a different approach to these concepts. He encourages his players to redefine the challenges that materialize in front of them, whether they block their paths or are just stepping stones along the way. With this growth mindset, despite the seemingly difficult schedule ahead, Szabo and the Comets are bound for success this season.

“I think that’s what it comes down to,” Szabo said. “It’s giving the boys the opportunity to be challenged, to be uncomfortable. It’s sort of a blue-collar, work hard, play hard, type of mentality, but cohesively bringing it together on a tactical basis with the players and the level of talent that we have. And then in that manner, we’re going to grow, whether it be as humans or as players.”

Szabo’s career as a player was nothing short of special, but one memory in particular sticks out to him. During his senior year (2007-2008), the Mason Comets switched leagues, entering the Greater Miami Conference.

“We had just transitioned from the FABC,” Szabo recalls. “And our first home game in the GMC was against Princeton.”

The 2007 Comets, ranked seventh in the state, got caught in a tie game towards the end of the second half of their home opener. Reminiscing on this special moment almost two decades later, Szabo remarks,

“I’ll never forget that moment, at this same stadium, at this same field, when I scored the go-ahead goal with 10 minutes left. Feeling the vibrations of the stadium, hearing how loud the noise was, it was incredible.”