When Jen Klein came to Ann Arbor, she was picking up the pieces of a broken program that hadn’t seen a Big Ten Tournament title since the last century.
Three years into her now six-year tenure, she put those pieces back into place.
The 2021 season was a big one for the Michigan women’s soccer team with its first Big Ten Tournament win since 1999, a trip to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and tying the school single-season wins record by going 18-4-3 overall.
Those crowning accolades of Klein’s revamped program are nothing short of impressive after her start just three years prior in 2018. Klein was deservingly praised for turning around and overhauling the Wolverines. But if you ask her how those trophies got there, her emphasis would be on her coaching staff and the players on her squad.
Because for Klein, the emphasis is always on others.
It’s on her coaches and players. Yes, her job as a Big Ten coach is to create a winning program. But she’s in the business of empowering and...