Brian Guggemos stepping down after strong run with Okemos soccer

May 30, 2023

Brian Guggemos was well aware of what he was stepping into when he became the varsity boys soccer coach at Okemos in 2002.

Guggemos knew he had big shoes to fill in taking over for Dr. John Picone, who was among the pioneers for high school soccer in Greater Lansing. Picone had built a strong tradition at Okemos, winning nearly 300 games and a state championship from 1982 to 2001.

Over the last two decades, Guggemos has built on that success and made his mark leading both the boys and girls programs at Okemos. Now he's stepping away after spending the last 21 seasons as the boys coach.

"It was one of the toughest decisions I've ever made," Guggemos said. "I've been out there since 1999. It's been a huge part of my life for the past 24 years. Just because of that, that made it one of the more difficult decisions I've ever had to make.

"I've had a lot of fun and obviously we've had a lot of really great successes, whether I was with the boys or the girls over my time here. The thrills and victories and those moments with your players ― those are things that as coaches we all live for. I'm giving that up and that's tough for sure."

Guggemos said part of what led to his decision was not feeling like he could pour 100% into his program and do all the little things he needed to make Okemos the most successful team it could be.

During his 21 seasons leading the boys and five in charge of the girls, he poured plenty into helping Okemos thrive on the pitch. While leading the girls program from 2010 to 2014, Guggemos guided Okemos to the Division 1 state title in 2012.

Guggemos took over the boys program after spending three seasons working under Picone. He coached Okemos to state championships in 2004 and 2021 ― the latter coming with his son, Jack, playing a big role. Guggemos guided Okemos to a 306-85-47 record and 10 conference titles. He ranks 11th in state history in victories among boys soccer coaches according to the Michigan High School Athletic Association online record books. .

"Doc started everything in 1982 and I was just happy to sort of kind of keep the tradition going over my time here," Guggemos said.

The Okemos boys had 10 seasons with at least 15 victories under Guggemos and also captured 10 district titles and a pair of regional championships. Okemos finished at least .500 or better in each of the 21 seasons under Guggemos' guidance.

Guggemos is proud of the accomplishments for Okemos soccer under his leadership and that the program has remained well respected in the state and beyond. Because of its success, Okemos was invited to play in a showcase this fall in Indianapolis that also features teams from Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.

"That makes me happy," Guggemos said of the program recognition. "I'm proud of the fact that even some of the years we had some leaner teams ― which it has been a while since we've done that ― we've always been competitive and we've really not had too many ups and downs over my time. That's really sort of a testament to the type of players that we've had and also the assistant coaches I've had over time.

"I've been really fortunate to have great guys that I've been working with. It's also the parents. Everyone's been supportive of our goals and what we wanted to accomplish. When you kind of have everyone tugging in the right direction you can do some pretty cool things."

Contact Brian Calloway at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.