OKLAHOMA CITY (June 30, 2021) – A lifelong soccer player and coach who's spent his professional career working at faith-based schools, Evan Dresel recently was named as the seventh head coach in the history of Oklahoma Christian's women's soccer program.

The 37-year-old Dresel grew up in nearby Mustang and lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Christine, and two children – a daughter, Ryan, and a son, Henry.

Dresel, a Southern Nazarene graduate, comes to OC after working since 2010 as either the co-coach or head coach for the women's team at Mid-America Christian in southwest Oklahoma City. He posted a 127-84-5 mark with the Evangels during that time, including a 15-3 mark during the just-completed season, split between fall 2020 and spring 2021.

Here is an interview conducted with Dresel soon after his hiring at OC:

When did you first start playing soccer?
"I started playing at 4. My parents actually helped start soccer in Mustang, which now is known for soccer. My dad is a welder and actually built the goals for the complex. I'd go out there and help him, holding poles together while he was welding."

You played on a good high school team at Mustang and then had the chance to play in college, but not just in soccer, correct?
"I started off at (Southwestern Oklahoma State) my freshman year (of soccer) and played for a year. I also was a punter and kicker in high school for football, so I left SWOSU to go to (the University of Oklahoma) as a walk-on. They had recruited me in football. After a year of being there, it didn't really work out, so that's when I transferred to Southern Nazarene and finished my three years of soccer there.

"I walked on (at OU for football) and thought I was the best punter on the team – we always do, right? – but some of the other guys already were part of the team and so I always was the odd man out. And, I just missed soccer. I think it was good for me (to go back to soccer), because obviously, this is where my career has gone. It kind of worked out. But it was an amazing experience to be out there (at OU's football stadium) kicking. A lot of the practice for kickers happens on the game field, so you're there in the stadium, practicing, while the rest of the team is practicing on the practice field. It was fun."

What led you to Southern Nazarene after your experience at Southwestern and OU?
"The SWOSU men's program was in the process of being cancelled, so I didn't want to go back and play one more season and then be looking again. I just wanted to stay local and the team at Southern Nazarene was pretty special. I had played with (then-SNU men's coach) Mark Persson in a men's league and he saw me play and I just ended up there."

What did you learn about yourself when you were at Southern Nazarene?
"I was always a good player, but I think the quality of the players I played with at SNU really taught me a different way of looking at the game, because we had so many international players on the team, specifically African players. I had never played with international players before then. It was more of an education for me on how to go from having a lot of ability to being a smarter player about tactics and those kind of things. Then, obviously, SNU is a great school from a Christian perspective. That did a lot for me in my own personal life and growth, being there."

Were you always planning on going into coaching for a career?
"Yeah. I started training kids and coaching some little teams in my senior year of high school. While I was at SNU, I always was coaching teams and being involved in things there. Once I saw it was something I had a passion for and I was OK at it, it all just kind of grew from there, especially once I went to MACU and really got my foot in the door of the college game."

You had a head-coaching job right out of college at Mount St. Mary High School in Oklahoma City.
"The first year I coached the boys only and the second year I coached the boys and the girls. I was pretty dumb then. I have come a long ways since then! I think everybody would say that about their coaching career. You look back at your first job and it's a little bit embarrassing. Lucky for me, the only thing available is my record. It wasn't terrible but if I could go back and listen to myself coach, it would have been awful."

How did you make the move from coaching high school soccer to coaching college soccer?
"It never happens this way now, but MACU had soccer programs and they were (National Christian College Athletic Association) Division II and they weren't funded with scholarships. A guy that I had met at a coaching course and kind of became friends with, Zach Bice, was starting the program at MACU and it was going to be a year or two before they moved into the NAIA. Through that, he was coaching both (men's and women's) teams so he needed an assistant coach. He brought me in as a part-time assistant the first year and then the second year I was promoted to full-time assistant. Then a few years after that I was promoted to co-head coach. It was just from knowing him. I tell people all the time, I got lucky. You don't get jobs like that anymore. Look at what it would take to get a job at MACU now. You're going to be competing against everybody in the area, and nationally, to try and win a job. I got in through the back door and worked my way up. MACU is great. They are always looking forward to the future and I think they saw they needed to join the NAIA and the (Sooner Athletic Conference) and it's really propelled the school forward."

What was the magic ingredient in getting the MACU program built?
"Zach didn't play college soccer, so he didn't have that experience, from knowing what a college program from the inside looks like. I had just come out of college, but you know how different it is from being a college player to being a college coach. I think what we did really well was work hard to control the things we were in control of. We always had a good budget for the field and facilities and those things and we spent a lot of time upgrading everything as far as the field goes. Then we got more scholarship money and things just kind of grew. We grew with the program as we went. There are some years when you make some mistakes and you learn from those. We tried to always be learning. We took coaching courses and anything we could get our hands on. We asked advice from other coaches. Honestly, the other local coaches were all really good about helping us out with things they were doing with their teams and that kind of stuff. It was a constant growth from us. There were some ups and downs and when you're learning that way, you've got to learn from your mistakes too.

"It's learning how to recruit better and learning all those things, all the facets of a program to make it successful. It's not any one thing. It's the total package. It's the recruiting, the facilities, the mission of the school, it's wanting to win and being competitive. When you're competitive and want to win, you'll look for the next thing to give you the edge to get better in that area too."

You're leaving a good program at MACU to come to OC. What drew you across town?
"On paper, people would say you were 15-3 last year at MACU, you're getting new facilities, you're returning your entire team aside from a few players and the recruiting class that we brought in there was really good, so we're going to be great. But it was really just the potential of Oklahoma Christian and of the soccer programs specifically that kind of drew me over here. I'm a builder. I'm someone that likes the challenge of turning something around and taking it in a different direction. The pieces are in place, for sure, to be successful. Oklahoma Christian to me just feels like a much bigger version of MACU. The family atmosphere here and the campus life, the mission of the school and all that – I feel like the potential here is limitless. I feel like right now is the time to strike and get things turned around. Obviously it took a little bit of convincing from David (Lynn). It was tough to leave my team and the relationships at MACU, for sure, but I think they understand for my career, and the level is higher to be in Division II. I don't think it was any one thing. It was a lot of things that drew me in here."

From the outside, what is the image of OC's program right now?
"There's not a lot of energy around the program, especially when you have a school like (Central Oklahoma) right down the street. What UCO has done really well is create a lot of energy around their program. They do recruit well but players also just want to go there. This school and this program have just as much potential as a school like UCO or Southwestern or Oklahoma Baptist. They've done really well there. The image isn't perfect or great right now, but things can change. You can turn things around in the matter of a year, if you can just get energy around the program and get people interested and get alumni interested and get people coming out to games and have camps. That will naturally create energy, which is what we need. As soon as we can get to the point where players are reaching out to us, and wanting to come to us, that's when we'll know we're doing it the right way.

"Obviously, I was sold on coming here. The same thing can happen for recruits. It's just got to be – the energy around the program has to be positive. The way that we're selling it to them, and the kind of players we're going after, all that has to be consistent. That's something that can grow over two or three years and then people won't even be thinking about the past at some point. That's what our hope is."

How soon can the program get turned around?
"I think we can turn certain aspects of the program around next year. Definitely, I will be trying to lay the foundation for what we're going to do moving forward. I'm coming in really late, so I don't really know the team as well as I will in three or four years, when I'm recruiting the players that will be coming in here. But just meeting with the players and hearing their aspirations and their goals, obviously, it's really easy to say you want to win, but doing it is another thing. I don't want to put a timeline on turning it around, but I think you'll see changes, even in the next season. I'm not saying we're going to win the conference title, but for an average fan or an alum coming out to the game, they're going to notice that things will be a little bit different."

You will have the advantage of the new soccer facility as a tool with which to build.
"We get to enjoy the fruits of the labor of (our predecessors). They put in a lot of time and passion into the programs and we get to come in at a good time of having a nice scholarship budget and the school has remodeled some things, like that cafeteria, which is beautiful. We're getting to reap the rewards of that. It's our job to come in and take that to the next level."

What sort of soccer does an Evan Dresel-coached team play?
"We have a distinct style. I was a center midfielder, so my goal is for us to have the ball as much as we can. Definitely, we're going to be a great passing, possession-oriented team. When we lose the ball, we're going to win it back as quickly as we can. We're going to have the ball at our feet as much as we can. If you ask around to people who know me or have coached against me, they would tell you the same thing. We're going to be the kind of team that averages, hopefully, 10 to 15 passes in a possession and not two or three. We're not going to be a longball, direct team. We're going to try and keep possession.

"I always tell my teams, 'I want to enjoy watching you guys play. I'm going to be watching you more than anybody.' I'm not saying there's anything against (a direct style of play) – everyone's got their own style – but I think the players enjoy playing (possession-style), too. They want to have the ball at their feet and enjoy a little bit of freedom on the ball to be creative or to possess and keep the ball. Once we start doing it in games and they see the benefit of it – I don't like to do it just because it's cool. I think it's the best way to win."

How do we get to the level at which we'll be among the top teams in the Lone Star Conference?
"Definitely, through recruiting. There's probably got to be some more junior-college kids that come in during (my) first couple of years here that can help make a quick change in the team. Hopefully with that also comes some solid younger players. We do have a good core of younger players right now, especially some girls that just came in the last couple of years, and then the recruiting class coming in this season is solid as well. Those pieces are there. We've just got to find those special players. That's going to come through selling them on what the future of the program is and getting them to believe in what we're believing in that we're going to be able to do in the next few years, and then changing the attitude and culture of the team as well. Winning helps that, too. That's a tough thing about coaching. When you're having trouble winning, it's hard to get the team on board with what you're trying to do. I don't think we need to go out and win every game next season but we do need to win a little bit to try and change that. Once we start winning and getting the momentum going, I think it will all grow from there."