After Penn State football hired Matt Campbell, Pat Kraft made another head coaching hire with the men’s soccer program after the resignation of Jeff Cook. Kraft named Rob Dow as the 13th head coach in Penn State’s program history, a move that has the potential to revolutionize the men’s soccer program, which has struggled recently.

Dow brings a winning mentality from his nine years at Vermont to a Nittany Lions program that hasn’t made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021. During his time with the Catamounts, he finished with a 109-41-21 record and currently holds the nation’s ninth-best win percentage among active coaches. He led Vermont to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, four America East regular-season titles, three conference tournament titles, and a national championship in 2024.

Penn State has not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2021, but it has also not won a national championship since 1979. During the eight years under Cook, the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles once and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, going as far as the Sweet 16. In his last two years, the Nittany Lions finished last in the Big Ten standings and did not make the Big Ten tournament. Despite leaving a lot of success behind in Vermont, Dow is confident that he can replicate that success here at Penn State with his coaching philosophy.

“You will see our players play for this team in a way that they have never played for another team before, with passion and energy and excitement. We’re going to be the hardest working team in the country, and I mean, it’s like we are going to cover the most blades on the field,” Dow said. “It’s in my history as a coach that our teams will be the toughest to play against in the country, the most connected as a family, and display that the little championship habits are the ones that make the big accomplishments and raise the important trophies above your head.”

Before becoming the head coach of Vermont, Dow was an assistant coach at Maine, Southern New Hampshire, and Vermont for five years before being promoted. He was also the head coach of Division III Dean College for two years. While at Southern New Hampshire, Dow helped lead the program to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, two conference titles, and one regular-season conference title. With Dean College, he led it to a playoff berth in 2007 and developed seven NJCAA All-Region players.

At Vermont, the Nova Scotia native coached 55 all-conference honorees and seven major conference award winners. The accolades continued as he and his coaching staff were recognized as back-to-back America East Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024 and 2025. Dow’s successful track record will attract recruits to play for Penn State, and he shared what his recruiting strategy is like.

“Let’s get the best players in [Pennsylvania]. We’ll be present on every soccer field in Pennsylvania,” Dow said. “We know the market and the type of player. It might be in the ECNL, MLS Next, and could be in Europe as well. We got some experience and a good network over there, relationships that are built because the people that we know who sent players to our coaching staff have loved the experience. As soon as we start getting going here, we’re going to start building those relationships.”

Despite recent on-field struggles, Kraft has made it known that he has invested in improving the program with the Jeffrey Field renovations — including a new operations facility, stadium renovation, parking, and an entry plaza, scheduled to be completed in 2026. Dow wanted a new challenge, and when the Penn State job opened up, he was sold on the vision Kraft had for the program that made him want to accept the job.

“I just saw Penn State as a sleeping giant. And now learning Pat’s commitment to soccer, and the infrastructure that’s being built is amazing,” Dow said. “I had to be ready, and the timing worked out well, I think, with the success in my career, and I was ready to pounce.”

At Vermont, Dow coached in front of consistently sold-out crowds of 2,600 fans. Unlike Penn State, Vermont doesn’t have a football program and capitalized on its soccer team’s success.

However, that wouldn’t be easy to replicate at Penn State. Jeffrey Field hasn’t had a sold-out crowd of 5,000 fans since its inaugural game in 1972. Despite the challenges that could arise in attracting others to support the team in a football-dominated community, Dow shared a message explaining why the Penn State community should come support the team.

“[We were] so proud to play in front of every home game being sold out at Virtue Field, and we’re going to experience that at Jeffrey Field. It’s going to be electric, and I’m going to feed off of it,” Dow said. “Come see the team. I’ll do my very best to play our student-athletes well. Whether it’s our supporters club on the sideline or mentors for the kids in the community, we’ll let you in and provide access where we can be Pennsylvania’s team.”