After an extensive national search, the New Mexico State women’s soccer program has finally found their new head coach in former Portland and San José State assistant coach Rob Baarts.

Baarts takes over for former head women’s soccer coach Freddy Delgado, who was fired after four seasons at the helm.

“I am pleased to welcome Rob Baarts and his family to New Mexico State University,” NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said in a press release. “Having coached the University of Portland to a women’s soccer national championship and San José State to a Mountain West Conference Championship were definitely significant accomplishments. This, coupled with his collegiate and professional experience as well as having recruited women’s national team caliber players in our geographic location put him at the top of our list.”

In addition to spending recent seasons at one of the more successful schools in the conference in San José State, Baarts’ impressive resumé features a 12 year stint as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at the University of Portland, his alma mater. While there, Baarts helped the Pilots reach the NCAA tournament multiple times, including a 2005 national title run, but his keen eye for recruiting may be what impressed the NMSU Athletic Department most. The former Portland assistant was responsible for all recruiting activities during his time there and brought in over a dozen athletes that would go on to play professionally, like current team USA player Megan Rapinoe and former team USA player Stephanie Lopez.

The first-year head coach’s success isn’t limited to just the coaching front either. Baarts helped lead the Pilots to three straight NCAA tournament appearances during his time as a player from 1987-90, including the program’s first semifinal appearance in the national tournament during his sophomore year in 1988.

“The future is simply about results: results as students, results as athletes, as administrators and as citizens in our community of Las Cruces,” Baarts said in a press release. “My experience in being a part of multiple Division I Final Four teams in my career as a player, and as a coach I believe will serve the program well in what it will take to become a national contender.”

Delgado’s firing did come as a surprise to some, with last year’s 9-10-2 season being the program’s best during his tenure, but Moccia believes that NMSU soccer has a chance to consistently be one of the top tier teams in the WAC and hopes that Baarts is the person that can bring the Aggies to that level.