MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Assistant Coach Devin Rensing joined Memphis 901 FC ahead of the 2021 season. Having experienced coaching numerous collegiate soccer programs to success and with an international scouting stint in Europe, Rensing brings a wealth of knowledge and skills crucial to building Memphis into a top program.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Rensing grew up just 275 miles north of Memphis along the Mississippi River. As one of many self-proclaimed Soccer Capitals of the Country, St. Louis is rich in soccer culture. Compounding upon that variable, Rensing grew up in what he described as a soccer family.
“I was pretty fortunate, my father actually played 10 years in the NASL, and had a couple of caps with the national team.” Rensing described. “I had two older brothers that both played soccer as well, so I grew up in a soccer family, and I was really fortunate in that way.”
“I don't even remember when I started playing [soccer], it's just one of those things where we just played sports as kids growing up,” Rensing added. “My older brothers were heavily involved in soccer, so I was a tagalong. With my father having played, I was exposed to soccer at a young age.”
One of Rensing's brothers, Damon, is the current head coach at Michigan State and had current Memphis 901 FC head coach Ben Pirmann on his staff as an assistant. Rensing's other brother, Darek, played collegiate soccer at UNLV.
Rensing’s father, Gary Rensing, a winner of two NCAA national championships at Saint Louis University in 1968 and 1970, went on to play professionally with the St. Louis Stars and the Chicago Sting of the NASL from 1970 to 1978. Not only did Rensing's father earn MVP honors with both SLU and the Stars, but he also earned four caps in World Cup qualifiers with the United States men’s national team and was later inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001.
“My father was my club coach growing up and I also had some great coaches at my community college—I had Pat McBride who is a legendary coach in St. Louis and in the United States—and had some amazing coaches in high school like Jim Bokern and Jeff Robben,” Rensing said. “I was really fortunate to have some of the best coaches in the country growing up.”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Assistant Coach Devin Rensing joined Memphis 901 FC ahead of the 2021 season. Having experienced coaching numerous collegiate soccer programs to success and with an international scouting stint in Europe, Rensing brings a wealth of knowledge and skills crucial to building Memphis into a top program.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Rensing grew up just 275 miles north of Memphis along the Mississippi River. As one of many self-proclaimed Soccer Capitals of the Country, St. Louis is rich in soccer culture. Compounding upon that variable, Rensing grew up in what he described as a soccer family.
“I was pretty fortunate, my father actually played 10 years in the NASL, and had a couple of caps with the national team.” Rensing described. “I had two older brothers that both played soccer as well, so I grew up in a soccer family, and I was really fortunate in that way.”
“I don’t even remember when I started playing [soccer], it’s just one of those things where we just played sports as kids growing up,” Rensing added. “My older brothers were heavily involved in soccer, so I was a tagalong. With my father having played, I was exposed to soccer at a young age.”
One of Rensing’s brothers, Damon, is the current head coach at Michigan State and had current Memphis 901 FC head coach Ben Pirmann on his staff as an assistant. Rensing’s other brother, Darek, played collegiate soccer at UNLV.
Rensing’s father, Gary Rensing, a winner of two NCAA national championships at Saint Louis University in 1968 and 1970, went on to play professionally with the St. Louis Stars and the Chicago Sting of the NASL from 1970 to 1978. Not only did Rensing’s father earn MVP honors with both SLU and the Stars, but he also earned four caps in World Cup qualifiers with the United States men’s national team and was later inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001.
“My father was my club coach growing up and I also had some great coaches at my community college—I had Pat McBride who is a legendary coach in St. Louis and in the United States—and had some amazing coaches in high school like Jim Bokern and Jeff Robben,” Rensing said. “I was really fortunate to have some of the best coaches in the country growing up.”
After winning a state title in high school at St. Mary’s—the same high school as goalkeeper John Berner—Rensing went on to play collegiately at Forest Park Community College for Pat McBride who played alongside Rensing’s father with the Stars before going on to manage a pair of indoor soccer teams in the St. Louis Steamers and Kansas City Comets. A soccer legend in his own right, McBride had five caps with the USMNT and was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1994.
After two years at Forest Park, Rensing earned a scholarship to play at Eastern Illinois University in the Missouri Valley Conference. Rensing went on to captain the Panthers for two years before graduating in 2001.
“If I look back at all my experiences in soccer, whether it was club soccer, high school soccer at St. Mary's, playing at Forest Park Community College or playing at Eastern Illinois, the way that I would describe it is that it was so much fun. So much fun,” Rensing explained.
After a brief stay in corporate America after graduation, Rensing knew his calling remained on the pitch. Venturing out of St. Louis, Rensing took a leap of faith and moved to Chicago to seek out an opportunity within the sport.
“I moved to Chicago, not knowing what I wanted to do,” Rensing explained. “I started to volunteer at Loyola Chicago for head coach Brendan Eitz and assistant coach Tim McBride, the son of Pat McBride, my community college coach. Those two guys gave me that opportunity to coach.”
From there, Rensing’s coaching career took off as he made a number of stops at the collegiate level before landing in Memphis. After a year at Loyola Chicago, Rensing became the assistant coach at Central Arkansas in 2005 and later Colgate in 2007 before being named head coach at Division III’s Stevens Institute of Technology in 2011.
After winning a state title in high school at St. Mary’s—the same high school as goalkeeper John Berner—Rensing went on to play collegiately at Forest Park Community College for Pat McBride who played alongside Rensing’s father with the Stars before going on to manage a pair of indoor soccer teams in the St. Louis Steamers and Kansas City Comets. A soccer legend in his own right, McBride had five caps with the USMNT and was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1994.
After two years at Forest Park, Rensing earned a scholarship to play at Eastern Illinois University in the Missouri Valley Conference. Rensing went on to captain the Panthers for two years before graduating in 2001.
“If I look back at all my experiences in soccer, whether it was club soccer, high school soccer at St. Mary’s, playing at Forest Park Community College or playing at Eastern Illinois, the way that I would describe it is that it was so much fun. So much fun,” Rensing explained.
After a brief stay in corporate America after graduation, Rensing knew his calling remained on the pitch. Venturing out of St. Louis, Rensing took a leap of faith and moved to Chicago to seek out an opportunity within the sport.
“I moved to Chicago, not knowing what I wanted to do,” Rensing explained. “I started to volunteer at Loyola Chicago for head coach Brendan Eitz and assistant coach Tim McBride, the son of Pat McBride, my community college coach. Those two guys gave me that opportunity to coach.”
From there, Rensing’s coaching career took off as he made a number of stops at the collegiate level before landing in Memphis. After a year at Loyola Chicago, Rensing became the assistant coach at Central Arkansas in 2005 and later Colgate in 2007 before being named head coach at Division III’s Stevens Institute of Technology in 2011.
“I really started to enjoy it when I was at Loyola [Chicago],” Rensing said of coaching. “I enjoyed the relationship with the players, I enjoyed thinking creatively, and I felt like I had a purpose. I felt like I was good at it, and the relationships that you can build with players are really important to me.
“When I look back on coaching, the coaches I had really had a big influence on my life,” Rensing added. “If I could have some sort of small influence like that in people's lives, I would be really privileged. Being able to coach and give back my wisdom of soccer and of the game, and to be able to build those relationships and help those players get better at what they do, is just a really, really good feeling.”
After five years as the head coach at Stevens, Rensing jumped on an exciting opportunity as the St. Louis native traveled overseas to study soccer and Spanish in 2016 at Universidad Europea de Madrid where he would immerse himself in Spanish culture for nearly two years. Along with studying in Madrid, Rensing served as an international scout for Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City.
“I would just go to four or five games a weekend, in the first and second division [of Spanish football], and I would go and take notes for Kansas City,” Rensing said. “That work was a really amazing experience.”
After two years in Spain and a newfound passion for Spanish, Rensing traveled back to the United States to become the top assistant coach at Northwestern in 2019 before taking the helm as head coach at Caltech in 2020.
After a prosperous career at the collegiate level—compiling an 82-16-7 record as head coach, winning nine conference championships and being named Coach of the Year on two occasions, Rensing opted to make the leap to the professional ranks.
“It was the opportunity to coach at a higher level, and to be involved with the player side of it,” Rensing said of his decision to come to Memphis. “To be working with Ben [Pirmann], James [Roeling] and Tim Howard was great. I felt like I would have input in the team, in the coaching and in the player acquisition.”
“That chemistry has been built from the coaches to the players and the players to the players and the players back to the coaches,” Rensing said of the development of his current club. “It's been hectic, but a lot of fun, and hopefully we just keep the train rolling.”
After more than ten years of coaching and time overseas as an international scout, Rensing values the personal connection to the players he coaches above all else—a trait instilled by his mother, a teacher of over 20 years—and truly has a passion for learning all while taking on a good challenge.
“Spanish is still a big passion of mine,” Rensing said. “It's a lifelong pursuit; it's not something where you learn just by taking classes for a few months. I find it [Spanish] very rewarding, frustrating and challenging, which is what coaching is and what playing soccer is, so I really like to challenge myself, I like to always be learning something new and experiencing new ideas whether it's in soccer or Spanish or anything.”
For the latest information on the team, visit https://www.memphis901fc.com and follow the club on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
“I really started to enjoy it when I was at Loyola [Chicago],” Rensing said of coaching. “I enjoyed the relationship with the players, I enjoyed thinking creatively, and I felt like I had a purpose. I felt like I was good at it, and the relationships that you can build with players are really important to me.
“When I look back on coaching, the coaches I had really had a big influence on my life,” Rensing added. “If I could have some sort of small influence like that in people’s lives, I would be really privileged. Being able to coach and give back my wisdom of soccer and of the game, and to be able to build those relationships and help those players get better at what they do, is just a really, really good feeling.”
After five years as the head coach at Stevens, Rensing jumped on an exciting opportunity as the St. Louis native traveled overseas to study soccer and Spanish in 2016 at Universidad Europea de Madrid where he would immerse himself in Spanish culture for nearly two years. Along with studying in Madrid, Rensing served as an international scout for Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City.
“I would just go to four or five games a weekend, in the first and second division [of Spanish football], and I would go and take notes for Kansas City,” Rensing said. “That work was a really amazing experience.”
After two years in Spain and a newfound passion for Spanish, Rensing traveled back to the United States to become the top assistant coach at Northwestern in 2019 before taking the helm as head coach at Caltech in 2020.
After a prosperous career at the collegiate level—compiling an 82-16-7 record as head coach, winning nine conference championships and being named Coach of the Year on two occasions, Rensing opted to make the leap to the professional ranks.
“It was the opportunity to coach at a higher level, and to be involved with the player side of it,” Rensing said of his decision to come to Memphis. “To be working with Ben [Pirmann], James [Roeling] and Tim Howard was great. I felt like I would have input in the team, in the coaching and in the player acquisition.”
“That chemistry has been built from the coaches to the players and the players to the players and the players back to the coaches,” Rensing said of the development of his current club. “It’s been hectic, but a lot of fun, and hopefully we just keep the train rolling.”
After more than ten years of coaching and time overseas as an international scout, Rensing values the personal connection to the players he coaches above all else—a trait instilled by his mother, a teacher of over 20 years—and truly has a passion for learning all while taking on a good challenge.
“Spanish is still a big passion of mine,” Rensing said. “It’s a lifelong pursuit; it’s not something where you learn just by taking classes for a few months. I find it [Spanish] very rewarding, frustrating and challenging, which is what coaching is and what playing soccer is, so I really like to challenge myself, I like to always be learning something new and experiencing new ideas whether it’s in soccer or Spanish or anything.”
For the latest information on the team, visit https://www.memphis901fc.com and follow the club on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.