OGDEN — Ogden Outlaws owner Mike Hickman was meeting with RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey and RSL goalkeeping coach Jeff Cassar last winter when the duo suggested that Hickman hire one of their friends as a member of his coaching staff.
"At first I was like, 'Oh shoot, here it goes. I've heard this before,'" said Hickman, who had been the head coach of the Outlaws during their first three years of existence in the PDL but was evaluating whether he should continue in that role.
As Hickman quickly figured out, however, the tip that Lagerwey and Cassar were giving him was a good one.
A very good one.
Lagerwey and Cassar's "friend" was, in fact, former MLS star Ted Eck, whose 13-year playing career included 13 appearances with the U.S. National Team.
"I went home and Googled his name, and boom, all this stuff comes up," Hickman said. Subsequent telephone interviews and visits steadily convinced Hickman that Eck should not only join his coaching staff, but that he should lead it.
Accordingly, Eck officially became head coach of the Outlaws near the end of last winter, and while the Outlaws have struggled on the field so far this summer, it's obvious that Hickman is thrilled to have Eck coaching his club.
And for his part, Eck is excited to be here.
"I've definitely enjoyed working with some guys that could definitely make a jump from the amateur level to the professional level — whether it's a year, two, three or four down the road," Eck said.
Before coming here, Eck had spent the last five years starting up a youth soccer club in Hawaii called Maui United.
Going from coaching youth players to coaching older players is obviously a transition, but Eck, who earned his USSF A-level coaching license last January, brings a wealth of playing experience to the job.
Eck played for various outdoor and indoor teams before MLS came into existence in 1996, and he was the third overall pick by Dallas in the inaugural MLS draft that year.
He played six seasons with Dallas before retiring in 2001.
"I had a soccer gypsy career for 13 years where I was bouncing from here to there, and I loved it," Eck said. "It was great, a beautiful experience"
Along the way, Eck made 13 appearances and scored one goal for the U.S. National team, playing underneath U.S. National team coaches Bob Gansler and Bora Milutinovic.
"It was great to play with Bora Milutinovic — I respected him greatly as a coach — as well as Bob Gansler and a few that were there along the way for shorter periods of time," Eck said. "But those were the two that were pretty influential in my career. Gansler had a more disciplined approach, whereas Bora had a much more creative approach.
"That combination of the two really helped me in my playing career — in MLS, especially."
Once his playing career was over, Eck coached youth soccer in Dallas before moving on to Hawaii.
Asked whether he'd have aspirations to move up the coaching ladder still further and coach professionally, Eck said he hasn't really considered it — yet.
"I haven't really thought of that," he said. "I'm enjoying this for now. I'm not sure if I want to coach at the professional level. I really enjoy the amateur level as of now. I really enjoy it.
"Maybe looking forward, it might interest me but right now I'm really content."
E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com