STARKVILLE – When Kevin O’Brien arrived in Starkville to get started as the new head soccer coach at MSU, he was already balancing several spinning plates.

Several MSU players entered the transfer portal after former coach Nick Zimmerman’s departure for Florida, and there were only 10 days left to recruit new prospects on the way in. By the time the portal closed on Dec. 17, O’Brien had assembled a class of six transfers to join the five incoming high school signees, replacing the nine outgoing players who had gone to Auburn and Florida.

“I think stylistically, the play will be in large part similar,” O’Brien told The Dispatch. “You want to dominate possession, you want to dominate chances, you want to be the aggressor on both sides of the ball. Good pressing team, and a team that wins it and knows what they’re gonna do, and they get it.”

Despite the turnover, many principles of the team will remain. O’Brien remarked that he was impressed with the possession-based style that was prevalent under James Armstrong and Zimmerman over MSU’s rise to prominence over the past few seasons. MSU is able to recruit at a level O’Brien aspired to at Lipscomb, and he intends to build with the players who remained in Starkville. Unlike his predecessor, however, he is not married to one particular style of play.

“I’m not gonna die on a philosophy of, like, ‘You’ve got to play 10-yard passes from back to front,’ and that’s how you break a team down,” O’Brien said. “Or, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go route one all day long.’ I think players need to be tactically flexible and be able to do what the given situation calls for.”

O’Brien’s Lipscomb teams were, at their best, the personification of flexibility. In 2025, the Bison were able to break down weaker opponents, go head-to-head with the best in their conference, and lock down defensively against Power 4 teams. After a 1-0 win over the Bulldogs, they were able to hang with No. 3 Florida State in the Round of 32, as well, before losing a tight 1-0 contest.

Zimmerman, a professed follower of Spanish manager Pep Guardiola, wanted his teams to play in a possession-dominant way that creates chances through build up play rather than relying on long passes and counter attacks.

“I don’t think there’s a huge change that way. I think we might be marginally more transition based than they were,” O’Brien said, comparing his teams to MSU stylistically. “(MSU) were really content to go sideways and backwards, and they had players that enjoyed doing that. I think we’ll do that, but maybe not to the degree, because I do think in that golden moment, when you win possession, transition is what you need to look for first. Can we get forward fast and catch a team before they reorganize defensively and try to slice through them? And if not, then you resort to, OK, how do we pull them out of their shape?”

Leveling up

Evidence of this sort of adaptability can be seen in Lipscomb’s win in Starkville last month. The Bison won possession deep in their own half, and rather than working possession through midfield, the right back identified a forward running into space and fired a ball over the top. Bella Carapazza took the ball into space with a touch before firing past goalkeeper Jenny Harrison for the game’s lone goal.

The Bison, who were ASUN conference champions with several dominant performances, accepted that they would have few chances against the Bulldogs and embraced their opportunities on the break. It paid off, and it showed the type of payoff that tactical flexibility can provide a team.

“I think that flexibility is gonna be really important,” O’Brien said. “You need players with a high soccer IQ that know what to do in every given situation, so they’re not just trying to do the same thing every time. The game of soccer, every moment is changing. Positionally, players are closing you down or dropping off, and every time you win it, you’ve got a new set of decisions to make. So there’s no black and white. Some sports are way more black and white. You’re a sprinter, it’s about being the fastest, having the lowest time. If you’re a golfer, get in the cup the quickest, have the lowest stroke. (In soccer) it’s a huge gray area where the players have the freedom to make the best choice, and the goal is for them to be making those best choices.”

At Lipscomb, O’Brien was able to recruit at a high level and find players who could help turn the program into a mid-major power, but there is no question about the difference in recruiting at an SEC program with the scholarships and resources to challenge the best in the sport.

O’Brien has coached against plenty of Power 4 teams in his time at Lipscomb, including two NCAA Tournament wins against Mississippi State in Starkville. He’s observed the dominance of the ACC and West Coast schools as well as the emergence of the SEC in the women’s game. He knows the challenges of competing in the postseason, but he sees an opportunity for the Bulldogs to continue challenging at a high level in a conference on the rise.

“I think the SEC’s right there with them, and I think stylistically, the ACC’s a little bit more possession-based, combination play… SEC teams tend to look a little bit more athletic. I want a really good mixture of both,” he said. “I want us to be athletic enough to go toe to toe with every team that we see, and also be able to move the ball and play through opponents, regardless of who we’re playing. So that’s what you’re shooting for in the recruiting process, and it might take a little bit of time to get there, but I’m confident.”