University of Hartford

Mike Kulas returns for his fourth season as an assistant coach for the University of Hartford’s men’s soccer team in 2014. Kulas, who joined the Hawks in 2011, is no stranger to working alongside head coach Tom Poitras, having spent the previous four seasons as his top assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His hiring also served as a homecoming for the Nutmeg State native as he was an assistant coach for the Hartford women’s soccer team in 2005. Kulas assists with all aspects of the program with an emphasis on recruiting.

While at Green Bay, Kulas helped pilot the team to four-straight Horizon League tournament appearances, including a historic season in 2009 that saw the program earn its first-ever tournament championship coupled with an NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, the first in 26 years. In 2007, his impact aided the Phoenix in returning to the Horizon League championship game as the former college defender helped Green Bay set a team record with 12 shutouts in a single season.

“I am excited to have Mike with me here at Hartford,” exclaimed Poitras at the time of Kulas’ hiring. “He is an excellent young coach and a very successful recruiter. Mike will have a great influence on our student-athletes. He was very important to the Phoenix’ success in Green Bay and will be a major asset in building the Hartford men’s soccer program into a national contender. It is great for him to make his return home to Connecticut as well.”

Kulas got his collegiate coaching career started with a stint at Assumption College in 2004. Serving as an assistant women’s soccer coach with the Greyhounds, he helped direct the team to its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II New England Regional Tournament that season. Following that appointment, Kulas served one season as an assistant to the Hawks’ women’s soccer team under current head coach John Natale before returning to Worcester, Mass., when he was named head coach of Assumption’s men’s soccer program.

Kulas is a 2002 graduate of Southern New Hampshire, where he was a standout defender for the men’s soccer team under Poitras’ watch. He helped the team post a 38-12-8 record as a three-year starter and led the Penmen to a pair of NCAA regional appearances and a Northeast-10 title (2000). Kulas went on to gain professional playing experience in 2002 as a member of the New Hampshire Phantoms, a team that placed fourth in the Northern Division.

Kulas, who holds a National ‘B’ License, has also served as a staff coach to the FC Green Bay Boys U-15 youth soccer club team as well as Wisconsin’s Olympic Development Program.