Nineteen seasons, two Mountain West Coach of the Year honors, 11 MW championships, the program’s win record, the conference win record, five NCAA tournaments, and now 200 wins.
To say that head coach Mike Friesen has left an impact on the San Diego State women’s soccer program would be an understatement. After a 2-1 victory at Grand Canyon University on Sept. 25, head coach Mike Friesen picked up his 200th career win at the helm for the Aztecs.
Friesen reflected on his latest milestone with not only pride in himself, but in those who have been there with him along the way.
“I’ve never kicked a ball for this team, so I don’t feel like it’s me,” Friesen said. “For me, it’s more of thinking back through all the years of having amazing people in our program, and, yeah, just proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Friesen began his journey with the Scarlet and Black in 2004 as an assistant coach. After three seasons in that role, he stepped up to the role of head coach, turning SDSU into one of the premier programs in the Mountain West. In 19 seasons as head coach, Friesen, the winningest coach in program history, has spent years establishing an identity and culture within the Aztec program.
A large part of that identity is focused on home-field dominance, which is the foundation of Friesen’s Aztecs becoming a winning program year in and year out. That focus has paid off, with SDSU holding a dominant 119-49-28 record at the Mesa in his tenure as head coach as of Oct. 17.
“That’s one of the things that we set out to do right away was establish a home field culture of, ‘We dominate at home,’” Friesen said. “We’ve had an exceptionally good record. It’s a really difficult conference. There’s a lot of good teams, a lot of good battles. But that’s one of the things in terms of an identity was, we want to be really good at home.”
On top of home-field dominance, Friesen aims for the team to work as one collective and efficient unit.
“We want to be a team that puts the ball on the ground, plays an attractive and fun style for the players to dominate the ball and get results,” he said.
During his record-setting tenure, Friesen has not only made an impact on the team’s results but also on a human level.
Associate head coach Chassion Griggs is in his tenth season as a full-time assistant on Friesen’s staff. Out of all things, the personal level in Friesen’s coaching is what stands out to him.
“I think the ultimate one is relationships,” Griggs said. “Normally, when things get hard, because I feel like we all like each other on a personal level, we’re able to grit and grind things out. And that’s probably the number one thing that I’ll take away from being with him. And that’s why I haven’t left yet, honestly.”
The personal relationship between Griggs and Friesen is a testament to Friesen’s ability as a leader and how his compassion on a human level translates into success for those around him.
“I’m pretty self-aware that I can be pretty quirky and have a unique personality, and he’s embraced who I am, so it’s allowed me to embrace who I am,” Griggs said. “I haven’t felt like I’ve had to change to be someone that I’m not. That’s probably the most impactful thing that’s happened to me in my coaching career.”
Being able to influence those who come through his program on a personal level is what has installed Friesen as the long-time leader of Aztecs women’s soccer. Lifting those around him has established a culture trickled to the rest of the team. A selfless and uplifting energy surrounds not only the coaching staff but also shows on the pitch, with a team playing for group accomplishments over individual successes.
As one of the most decorated coaches in the history of SDSU athletics, there’s very little that Friesen has not achieved with the program. However, his sights are turned to capitalizing on the club’s final season in the Mountain West and beyond.
“We still want to win another Mountain West trophy at least,” Friesen said. “So we want to start by winning another conference championship here, but then we’re moving to the PAC-12 and I think the same thing applies, where we want to be one of the first teams in San Diego State to go win a PAC-12 conference.”
There is still a long way for Friesen and the Aztecs to climb to reach the summit of the Mountain West one final time, but for now, his milestone win will serve as a reminder of what he has built in 19 seasons.
“I don’t think a whole lot about it until it’s right around that moment,” Friesen said. “[It] just makes me think about all the people that have contributed to that. The players, the assistant coaches, the staff.”
