Coach Speak: Bob Warming

PRESENTED BY

Quick question for you. How many people do you know who have willfully moved to a place three times in their life? It even sounds crazy as a type this…but yes, I am proudly that guy!

However crazy our moves around the country may appear, for purposes of this topic…Why I love Omaha…the experiences probably provide a unique perspective.

I can compare Omaha to other places that have satisfied my restless spirit of wanting to build programs and accept new challenges. North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky and Pennsylvania all provided some interesting and rewarding experiences. Having lived and worked all these great places…I simply love Omaha. My family loves Omaha…and we love being back here so much for round three!

Why do we love it so much and what makes it so unique? For me, first and foremost, it is the “Can Do” attitude of Omaha. In my experience, it takes a lot of positive people to build something rewarding. Omaha is filled to the rafters with exactly that kind of people.

This is the only place I have ever lived that nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, seems impossible. It is almost like, the harder the challenge, the more people seem to get behind it and push it, get in front of it and pull it and join in and give the solution more mass. Omaha people do not shy away from the challenges, quite the contrary, we embrace the hard and difficult challenges and the opportunity…the amazing gift of opportunity…that these initiatives bring to people's lives in our city.

My players have heard me say, perhaps a bit too often, that there is no truth without a story. So here is my first proof of concept Omaha story. In my first stint in Omaha, we started the program just down the street in 1990 with all freshmen, (the sport had been dropped four years before) had never had a winning season in Division I, didn't have a place to practice, didn't have a place to play, didn't have a conference that sponsored soccer, never had over 150 people previously at a match. Four years later, we were number one in the country, went undefeated, played in sold out stadiums and plans were being formed to build a stadium. This was 100% the result of the “Can Do” attitude of embracing a big challenge in our city.

We have a challenge and an opportunity ahead of us with our program at UNO and we are embracing it. The truth and the story is that people are getting involved with our University now and they pushing us, pulling us and joining us in the challenge of moving in an amazing direction. The best is yet to come here and it is going to be fantastic to be a part of the journey.

While I have hundreds of stories of why I love Omaha, they mostly revolve around this fact…If you get involved with us at UNO, you will have an opportunity to do things that you have never done, things that have never been done here, and the truth is…for the rest of your life, it is going to be a great story.