Entering his sixth season at the helm of the Vikings, Pete Curtis will lead a youthful and talented squad into a new era on Krenzler Field. The home of CSU soccer for the last 20 years, Krenzler will reopen following an extensive restoration -- including the installation of a FieldTurf playing surface and an inflatable dome for the winter months -- that will turn the facility into one of the finest in collegiate soccer.

Curtis took over the Viking program on January 12, 2000, when he was named the eighth head coach in the just over half-century history of Fenn College/ Cleveland State soccer. He took the reins of a program that had gone 2-14-2 the previous season and scored just eight goals - a low point in school history.

His infectious attitude and energy have sparked the Vikings in their return to prominence. The Vikings won just three games in Curtis' first season, but nearly tripled their offensive output by scoring 23 goals, showing signs of things to come.

In 2003, Curtis coached Stephen Ademolu to the Horizon League's Player of the Year award, just the third such honor in school history, and the first for Cleveland State in the Horizon League. He also guided the Vikings to consecutive wins over Robert Morris, Loyola, Niagara and Xavier, giving Cleveland State its longest win streak since 1990.

The 2002 season gave further proof of Curtis' knowledge and enthusiasm for the game, as he led CSU to a 10-11 mark, the best record since the 1996 team went 8-8-3. The 10 wins were the most the school had put up since the 1990 season, when Tom Turner's club finished the year 12-6-2.

Horizon League coaches have taken notice of Curtis' success, giving him a share of the league's coach of the year award following the 2002 season, the first time that the men's soccer program has had a coach of the year in the Horizon League.

Curtis has already brought in the foundation of the future of Cleveland State soccer. He has coached two Horizon League Newcomers of the Year (Joachim Walker - 2001, Stephen Ademolu - 2002), and has had 11 players earn all-league recognition.

Curtis came to Cleveland after turning the University of Charleston's (W. Va.) program around. In just five years, he transformed a team with a .500 record into a Division II powerhouse, compiling a 68-30-8 overall record.

In 1999, he directed the Golden Eagles to a 21-2-0 mark and a berth in the national semifinals. Along the way, Charleston out-scored its opponents by an astounding 112-10 margin. For his efforts, Curtis was named both the WVIAC and Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year, and was one of eight candidates for the National Coach of the Year Award. An USSF "A" licensed coach, he also taught in Charleston's Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department.

A native of Liverpool, England, Curtis has a lengthy association with the game, playing for a trio of English professional teams (Everton, Chester City and South Liverpool) as a young adult. After several years of coaching at soccer camps in the United States, he played for then NAIA powerhouse Alderson-Broaddus College from 1983-87, and captained the Battlers to the No. 1 ranking in the nation. While completing his master's degree in Sports Administration at Iowa State University, Curtis coached the Cyclones' club program to the semifinals of the 1988 National Collegiate Club Soccer Championship.

Prior to his appointment at Charleston, he spent five seasons in charge at Marietta College in Ohio, where he successfully steered that program back to respectability.

Curtis and his wife Patty currently reside in Brunswick, Ohio. The couple have a daughter, Shannon, and a son, Sean.