SCOTTSBLUFF -- Eseah Ingram, the WNCC assistant soccer coach for the past two seasons and Scottsbluff High soccer player, will have a new position starting February 1. 

Ingram was hired as the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer coach, taking over for Todd Rasnic, who has spent the past 20-plus years as the head man. Rasnic will stay on at WNCC as Rasnic will be the women’s soccer head coach. The two will then serve as an assistant coach for the opposite teams. 

Ingram said he learned a lot from Rasnic in the two years as an assistant and believes he is ready to step up as a head coach. 

“To be honest, I don’t have many feelings towards taking over the men’s program,” Ingram said. “I am excited for sure. Don’t get me wrong. I just believe this is something I know I have been ready for and I’m eager to get to work and continue to raise and establish the expectation and culture this program deserves to be at in order to be successful.” 

Rasnic let Ingram do a lot of the coaching and work behind the scenes for the past two years to get him ready for being a head coach. 

“I learned a lot. Luckily, Coach Rasnic was gracious enough to give me a lot of control and say in a lot of what we did and everything has sort of been trial by fire,” Ingram said. “I’ve had my ups and downs for sure, but I’ve always prided myself on being confident and a sponge, soaking up all experiences, so with every situation I’ve learned to take it as a blessing or a lesson and so in the short time I’ve learned a lot and I’m hopeful to continue to learn and get better.” 

Last year the Cougar men had a banner year, capturing it’s first Region IX title since the inaugural soccer team in 2003. The soccer team also made the college’s first-ever appearance at the national tournament in November in Wichita, Kansas. WNCC finished the year at 10-6-2. WNCC earned the Sportsmanship Award at the national tournament in November. 

“The outlook for next year is higher,” Ingram said. “This year we made history, but it’s in the past and we must remember that. The expectation is to win the Region IX title and Northwest Plains District title again and to make an appearance and perform better at Nationals. This last year we put people on alert for our program, and we indeed made history here, but that’s all it is; now we establish and maintain culture.” 

Ingram has a strong soccer background from starting to play soccer when he was four or five years old. He started playing in Colorado and Nebraska and played for WNFC and Scottsbluff High School. Ingram then played for WNCC in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, the Cougar men were 5-9-2 and in 2017 they went 12-6 before falling in the semifinals of the regional tournament to Northeastern Junior College 1-0. 

 After WNCC, Ingram continued his playing at the four-year level, playing at NCAA Division II Shaw University and then at LSU-Alexandria before graduating in 2020. 

“Coaching-wise, I coached Youth Academy in Louisiana and Colorado before taking the assistant coaching Job here at WNCC where I’ve been for 2 years now,” he said. “Coaches I’ve had around here while growing up have been Coach (Nate) Rock and Coach Rasnic, as well as Coach Chuy Villagrana, who was huge for me in High School!” 

Ingram said his coaching style won’t change much from what he learned under Rasnic. 

“I’ve been fortunate to be in a position here where Coach Rasnic has let me express my unapologetic personality and establish my style and culture,” he said. “If anything, I need to be better, I must raise my own expectations and then perform every single day. So really, nothing new per se, but the level and expectation will always continue to raise and improve with every single year. I cannot expect my players to have the same mentality if their leader isn’t willing to do the same.”