John Leaney recorded his 400th win as Macalester’s head soccer coach when the women’s team beat St. Mary’s 6-0 on September 16th. He has been the men’s coach at Macalester since 1987 and women’s coach since 1989. His overall record, now 408-113-46, gives him a .760 career winning percentage. He has led his teams to 13 MIAC titles, taken them to 17 NCAA championships and won a women’s national title in 1998. He has been named MIAC’s Coach of the Year 11 times.
 

What does your 400th win mean to you?

The number one thing you have to do to get 400 wins is be old. Also, I do more than most [coaches] by coaching the men’s and women’s teams. But, that means nothing to me. It’s nice to have championships. They’re for the players.
 

Both teams have gotten off to strong starts. Do you have high hopes for them?

The teams both look strong. The men haven’t reached their potential, but are 3-0 in the conference and favorites to win. Some tough games have yet to come, and I’m hopeful the injury situation will clear up.

The women are better than expected. They’re undefeated and they’re scoring goals, not like last year. We had 30 goals all of last year and [this year] we have 27 so far and we’re not even half way through the season.
 

Do you prefer coaching men’s or women’s soccer?

I enjoy coaching motivated individuals. Some years it’s the men, some years it’s the women, some years it’s both.
 

How do you feel about the new tournament format for determining an automatic qualification spot in the national championships?

We now have to play two extra games. I feel the team that wins the ten conference games is the best team and it shouldn’t all come down to one weekend. But the men have a large squad. We rested some key players and we’re the one team that can afford to do that, but I don’t like the system.

On the women’s side it’s a help for us. We’re one of the two or three best teams in the conference, but I still don’t agree with the system.
 

Do you think home-field advantage will prove decisive?

No. It’s a major plus because of the crowd, but it’s a disadvantage because our field is in poor condition.
 

Why did you decide to share the head-coaching responsibilities of the men’s team with Ian Barker?

I felt that we’d reached as far as we could go with one coach coaching two teams. I feel the results are coming in. The men are in a better position and I can give more attention to the women’s team because the men now have another coach.