Head soccer coach Casey Wilson was a star in two sports in college, neither of which were soccer.

Wilson grew up spending most of his time on the field, playing football, soccer and baseball at Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills, Calif. He also played club soccer for the Western Regional championship team, who finished the season 50-8 in 1989.

In college, Wilson continued to be a multi-sport athlete, competing in both baseball and football. At Santa Ana College in California, Wilson was an All-American placekicker for the Dons football team. He also played on the baseball team for a year.

Wilson then transferred to Central Michigan University to play on the football team. In 1996, Wilson set the school record for total PATs in a season. His record was untouched for over 10 years, until Rick Albreski made 48 PATs in 2007.

“I was looking to transfer once my years of eligibility were over at Central Michigan,” Wilson said. “That’s when I transferred to ACU to play two years of baseball. I used all 10 semesters of eligibility that I had to play sports.”

Wilson wouldn’t have even heard of Abilene Christian if it hadn’t been for his older brother.

“My dad had inquired about ACU looking for a place for my brother to play football,” Wilson said. “He had done some research while I was up at Central Michigan. He then kind of mentioned it to me one day. We had a family friend who went to school here back in the 50’s so I was interested. I was looking for a warmer place to play baseball once I was done with my football career. And that’s just how I ended up here.”

Hitting .300 for the Wildcats, Wilson was a member of Britt Bonneau’s 1998 baseball team. Bonneau is still currently serving as ACU’s head baseball coach.

“I think I beat myself up a lot playing baseball,” Wilson said. “Baseball was something that I was always pressuring myself with, and soccer was kind of my release. When I played it, I loved it. I played starting at five years old and played until I was a senior in high school.”

Wilson graduated from ACU in 1999 with a B.B.A. in marketing and later received his M.B.A. with an emphasis in entrepreneurship from Concordia University in Irvine, Calif.

Wilson moved back to Abilene in 2002, and his ex-wife Chantiel Wilson took over the softball program at ACU. An alumni player for the ‘Cats,  she was named head softball coach in 2005. Wilson helped out as her assistant coach, as well as being the program’s recruiting coordinator and hitting coach.

“I enjoyed working in softball,” Wilson said. “That’s how I got into coaching. I loved every minute of it.”

During Wilson’s career in the softball program, the Wildcats made the national championship tournament four times,  (2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009) three LSC Tournament championship game appearances, and two LSC South Division titles in 2006 and 2009.

“Being involved with the softball program the first few years I was a coach, I really found my niche,” Wilson said. “I found out how to run a program well, especially at ACU. I kind of just took that model over to soccer.”

Beginning in 2007, Wilson was working as both the head soccer coach and the assistant softball coach, and did both until 2010 when he decided to focus on soccer.

Wilson credits his high school coach as his biggest mentor as a soccer coach.

“My high school soccer coach really furthered my love for the sport,” Wilson said. “That was the beginning of his coaching career, and I felt that he had a lot of qualities even then that I could tell he was really going somewhere. He’s been an outstanding mentor to me as I have come back into the soccer world.”

Ali Khosroshahin serves as the head women’s soccer coach at the University of Southern California, where he finished his 2007 season with a NCAA Division I national championship.

“He is coaching at the pinnacle of the soccer world, and it has been fun to see his success,” Wilson said.

Wilson was the first and only coach in the history of ACU’s soccer program, which was born in 2007. Since then, the program has quickly been built from the bottom up, becoming one of the top programs on campus.

“I did what I could to start this program well,” Wilson said. “We had to rebuild the softball program back up in 2004, and I saw this as another chance to start something new again.”

In just five years, Wilson’s winning percentage is at an outstanding .662 with an overall record of 64-31-7 before the beginning of this season.

He has led the ‘Cats to 64 victories, four LSC Conference tournaments, two NCAA championships, and a conference title.

“I have been blessed with having great help here with my assistant coaches,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t have built this program without them. I was fortunate to learn my strengths and weaknesses as a softball coach, and where I needed help in certain areas and that was beneficial in helping the whole program going forward.”