Kerr's decision to leave professional soccer had its costs, but his previous experience with coaching showed him what collegiate soccer could offer.

"I really enjoyed what I was doing with the Boston Bulldogs, and I think I was probably on the fast track to becoming an MLS assistant or possibly an MLS head coach in the future," Kerr said. "But my time at Duke really stuck with me, and I knew that I would have a lot of influence on collegiate players and their development into players for the future as well as people. It's exciting to work in this kind of environment when you can have a lot of influence on their lives athletically and socially, and hopefully academically as well."

John Kerr, Year One

Although Kerr had high hopes coming into the season, he inherited

a young Harvard team. The 1999 Crimson has only three seniors and juniors on its 26 man roster, and returned only four starters from last year.

"This year has been a year of an experience," Kerr said. "I feel sorry for the seniors, and think that they've enjoyed themselves, but probably, if they had their druthers, they would like to be here from one day one and start again."

The Crimson went 8-6-2 last season, with an even 3-3-1 record in the Ivy League. Kerr saw room for improvement.

"I had seen Harvard play the year before on a six or seven occasions, and I noticed that they had a lot of talent but they kind of underachieved," Kerr said. "I thought that maybe I could come in and spark a few things and maybe we would surprise a couple of people that didn't take us seriously."