Ray Leone is only the second head coach in the seven-year history of the ASU women's soccer program, but that doesn't bother him.
"I love the challenge," he said.
Because of that, Leone and his wife, Tracey, came to the Tempe campus two years ago.
"ASU is a great place, and it was a wonderful opportunity to come here," Leone said. "Their commitment to women's athletics was very important to me."
Leone, who is entering his second season at the helm, likes the sport for several reasons.
"It's so expressive," he said. "People say it's a player's game because there are no plays. They have freedom to move around within a system."
Before coming to ASU, Leone coached at Clemson for seven years. But his greatest feat happened even before his glory days with the Tigers.
"My biggest accomplishment would have to be that," Leone said while pointing to a picture of a team holding a banner that reads: NAIA National Champions, 1987.
Leone won the title while coaching at Berry College in Mt. Berry, Ga.
"Second would have to be beating the University of North Carolina to win the (Atlantic Coast Conference) championship," Leone added.
The victory over the perennial powerhouse was one of Leone's many highpoints at Clemson. Under Leone, the Tigers made three appearances in the Elite Eight and finished ranked in the top 15 for seven straight seasons.
Leone said he hasn't accomplished anything that would be deemed "major" at ASU.
"We're still building," he said. "It's a real young team that is learning. We still have a lot to accomplish."
Leone's game plan isn't just about success on the field.
"We want to represent ASU in a proper way, both on and off the field, and we want excellence on and off the field," Leone said. "The team (grade-point average) last year was 3.45, and that's a standard we want to aim for."
Leone is confident he will be able to assemble another successful program with the Sun Devils.
"There is a lot of personality in our program, and lots of personality on ASU's campus," he said. "That will help us recruit lots of special student-athletes to build our program."
Leone isn't making any predictions for this season, but said his team was ahead of where it was at this time last year.
"We are not thrilled with the results, but we are improving on our process, so the results should follow," he said.
Reach the reporter at katie.crane@asu.edu.
