TULSA – Michael Nsien stands inside FC Tulsa’s training center on another chilly February morning in northeastern Oklahoma. While the wind rips through the wide-open soccer fields outside the large facility, inside it’s calm as team staff cleans up following an indoor training session.
Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nsien is about to begin his second full season at the helm of a Tulsa USL Championship franchise seeking to be reborn.
"It's an honor,” Nsien said. “Honestly, every time I go to the stadium, I'm headed toward home. I mean, my mom still lives less than a mile away from the stadium, so it brings back a lot of memories for me growing up.”
Nsien grew up in Tulsa just as the original Tulsa Roughnecks, then of the North American Soccer League (NASL), reached the peak of its soccer powers. Born in 1981, he was still in diapers when the club won the Soccer Bowl in 1983.
“If I was there, I don’t remember it,” Nsien chuckles.
Nsien is one of just a few black coaches in the 35-team USL Championship. It’s a fact not lost on the 39-year-old, especially during Black History Month.
“Yeah, Radhi Jaïdi, Jámison Olave, and me,” he nods. “So, even before [Jaïdi] came [to Hartford], it was even more limited. I'm happy that there's been more inclusion in the coaching ranks. I'm happy to be a part of it, and I just hope that I do a good job, so people understand that coaches come in all types, all abilities, all levels, but everyone deserves an opportunity. I hope to take my chance and help move everyone else forward so more opportunities come.”
While Nsien cuts a reserved figure on the touchline during matches, his style of play and training sessions are anything but. Despite his background as a defender, he loves to attack. His everyday training sessions are up tempo as he responsibly pushes his players to the limit on a regular basis. He credits that style to a fellow coach that shares his Nigerian roots.
“Growing up, I had a coach, Tama Aondofar, who I still have a good connection with,” Nsien reflected. “He's a Nigerian coach. He’s still based there. I just loved the tempo and intensity that he applied to training and how uncomfortable it made me. He also was a youth coach of mine, and then he also followed me to college. He ended up being assistant coach at Dayton when I was in college. So, he's someone that I kept a good connection with coaching-wise.”
Nsien’s path to become a professional coach began in Dayton, Ohio. He played four years of college soccer at the University of Dayton before heading to Nigeria to prepare with the U23 squad for the 2004 Olympics. It was an Olympic bid that unfortunately went unclinched for the Super Eagles, and Nsien returned to the U.S. to spend a few years as a roster reserve with the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer (MLS).
“Even when I was playing in Los Angeles, beginning in 2005, I was coaching part-time,” Nsien recounted. “I was moved to Portland Timbers, and after that I came back to Tulsa and started coaching right away. By the time it was 2008, I was a full-time coach.”
Nsien took over as interim head coach during the 2018 season that saw Tulsa Roughnecks FC finish last in the USL Championship Western Conference. During his first full season as head coach in 2019, the team made incremental improvements as Nsien led Tulsa to a 16th place finish in the West. The tide really began to turn when the Craft brothers bought the team in August of 2019. Now, with new ownership, a new look, and a dramatically reshaped roster, Nsien is tasked with leading the new era of the club on the pitch.
“I wear the [FC Tulsa] badge with pride, as a badge of honor,” Nsien said. “I think first and foremost, I want the club to do very well and represent Tulsa on a national scale, to the highest level possible. I put a lot of responsibility on myself as far as being a coach from Tulsa and representing the club.”
It’s a response given quickly and confidently, from a man who has known he has wanted to be a coach for his entire adult life. When Nsien is asked about what he represents in the context of Black History Month, however, he pauses to collect his thoughts.
“It's important.” said Nsien. “It means a lot to me year-round but specifically in February, we have a time to reflect on all of the forward, progressive movements that African Americans and blacks have made in the world and in the United States. In the arena of sports, it has always been an area that blacks have been able to at least push through in moments that force new moments in history. I think we're in another moment in soccer. I think we're late in soccer. So hopefully for me, I'm an inspiration to some young coaches, and I'm able to trigger some moments and have some success so that more black coaches get opportunities in the business.”
TULSA – Michael Nsien stands inside FC Tulsa’s training center on another chilly February morning in northeastern Oklahoma. While the wind rips through the wide-open soccer fields outside the large facility, inside it’s calm as team staff cleans up following an indoor training session.
Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nsien is about to begin his second full season at the helm of a Tulsa USL Championship franchise seeking to be reborn.
“It’s an honor,” Nsien said. “Honestly, every time I go to the stadium, I’m headed toward home. I mean, my mom still lives less than a mile away from the stadium, so it brings back a lot of memories for me growing up.”
Nsien grew up in Tulsa just as the original Tulsa Roughnecks, then of the North American Soccer League (NASL), reached the peak of its soccer powers. Born in 1981, he was still in diapers when the club won the Soccer Bowl in 1983.
“If I was there, I don’t remember it,” Nsien chuckles.
Nsien is one of just a few black coaches in the 35-team USL Championship. It’s a fact not lost on the 39-year-old, especially during Black History Month.
“Yeah, Radhi Jaïdi, Jámison Olave, and me,” he nods. “So, even before [Jaïdi] came [to Hartford], it was even more limited. I’m happy that there’s been more inclusion in the coaching ranks. I’m happy to be a part of it, and I just hope that I do a good job, so people understand that coaches come in all types, all abilities, all levels, but everyone deserves an opportunity. I hope to take my chance and help move everyone else forward so more opportunities come.”
While Nsien cuts a reserved figure on the touchline during matches, his style of play and training sessions are anything but. Despite his background as a defender, he loves to attack. His everyday training sessions are up tempo as he responsibly pushes his players to the limit on a regular basis. He credits that style to a fellow coach that shares his Nigerian roots.
“Growing up, I had a coach, Tama Aondofar, who I still have a good connection with,” Nsien reflected. “He’s a Nigerian coach. He’s still based there. I just loved the tempo and intensity that he applied to training and how uncomfortable it made me. He also was a youth coach of mine, and then he also followed me to college. He ended up being assistant coach at Dayton when I was in college. So, he’s someone that I kept a good connection with coaching-wise.”
Nsien’s path to become a professional coach began in Dayton, Ohio. He played four years of college soccer at the University of Dayton before heading to Nigeria to prepare with the U23 squad for the 2004 Olympics. It was an Olympic bid that unfortunately went unclinched for the Super Eagles, and Nsien returned to the U.S. to spend a few years as a roster reserve with the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer (MLS).
“Even when I was playing in Los Angeles, beginning in 2005, I was coaching part-time,” Nsien recounted. “I was moved to Portland Timbers, and after that I came back to Tulsa and started coaching right away. By the time it was 2008, I was a full-time coach.”
Nsien took over as interim head coach during the 2018 season that saw Tulsa Roughnecks FC finish last in the USL Championship Western Conference. During his first full season as head coach in 2019, the team made incremental improvements as Nsien led Tulsa to a 16th place finish in the West. The tide really began to turn when the Craft brothers bought the team in August of 2019. Now, with new ownership, a new look, and a dramatically reshaped roster, Nsien is tasked with leading the new era of the club on the pitch.
“I wear the [FC Tulsa] badge with pride, as a badge of honor,” Nsien said. “I think first and foremost, I want the club to do very well and represent Tulsa on a national scale, to the highest level possible. I put a lot of responsibility on myself as far as being a coach from Tulsa and representing the club.”
It’s a response given quickly and confidently, from a man who has known he has wanted to be a coach for his entire adult life. When Nsien is asked about what he represents in the context of Black History Month, however, he pauses to collect his thoughts.
“It’s important.” said Nsien. “It means a lot to me year-round but specifically in February, we have a time to reflect on all of the forward, progressive movements that African Americans and blacks have made in the world and in the United States. In the arena of sports, it has always been an area that blacks have been able to at least push through in moments that force new moments in history. I think we’re in another moment in soccer. I think we’re late in soccer. So hopefully for me, I’m an inspiration to some young coaches, and I’m able to trigger some moments and have some success so that more black coaches get opportunities in the business.”
