Rob Irvine begins his third season with the Cougars in 2016. Irvine came to Kean from the University of Pennsylvania, where he has was an assistant for eight seasons and helped lead the Quakers to two Ivy League titles and three NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament appearances.
In his second season with the Cougars in 2015, Irvine helped the program return to glory. After beginning the season 12-1 Kean was ranked No. 12 in the nation and wound up 14-6, its best record since 2002.
In his first season, Irvine led a reversal of the program, with Kean posting the most wins in a season (12) since 2002. The Cougars were 12-8-1 thatyear and returned to the postseason. In addition, the Cougars hosted an NJAC Tournament home game for the first time since 2006; a shutout victory over Richard Stockton College on November 1.
Pennsylvania is one of the top programs in Division I. Four different players were drafted by Major League Soccer during Irvine's time in Philadelphia. In 2011, Thomas Brandt was selected by the hometown Philadelphia Union, Alex Grendi was picked by the Columbus Crew in 2009 and Daniel Cepero and Christian Barreiro were taken by the New York Red Bulls in 2007 and 2011, respectively.
In 2010, Irvine helped to guide the Quakers to the NCAA Tournament following a 13-6 record and a 5-2 performance inside the Ivy League. Penn won its first round game in the national tournament with a 1-0 victory over in-state rival Bucknell.
In 2008, Penn captured the school's seventh Ivy League title. The Quakers shut out opponents in the first 673:25 minutes of that season and were unbeaten through the first 10 games of the year.
Prior to his time at Penn, Irvine was the head coach of both the men's and women's soccer teams at College of the Southwest—an NAIA school in Hobbs, New Mexico. He was the conference Coach of the Year for both genders during his two seasons there.
Irvine played collegiately at Syracuse University, and returned to the Orange as a graduate assistant from 2001-03. While he was a GA, the Orange had a player earn Soccer America Freshman of the Year and another selected in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. In addition, Irvine coached three players who helped Canada to a quarterfinal berth at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. He earned his master's degree in public administration at Syracuse.
He was a two-time captain as a player for the Orange and suited up for Canada's U-17 national team at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in 1991. He was in Canada's Olympic Soccer Team pool of players in both the 1993 and 1994 seasons and played professionally for a number of years.
Irvine also has experience coaching at the Olympic Development Program (ODP) level as a staff coach for the Region IV camp in 2004. He currently holds an "A" license from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and serves as the head coach for FC Delco's U-16 Development Academy team.
