Kris Bertsch, widely renowned as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, has served as an assistant coach at Saint Louis for the last five seasons.
During his time at SLU, Bertsch has been part of a staff that has rebuilt the Billiken program into a national power. Saint Louis captured back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2021 and 2022, resulting in two straight NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship appearance. In 2021, Bertsch helped the Billikens to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship, SLU’s deepest run since 2003.
In his five seasons at SLU, Bertsch has coached 34 All-Conference selections, including the 2021 and 2022 A-10 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. A total of 15 players have earned All-Region honors, and two players have earned All-American plaudits.
In 2021, Bertsch coached a remarkable six players who would go on to be drafted in Major League Soccer, including three who earned MLS Generation adidas contracts and four who were drafted in the first round. In all, 16 Billikens have earned professional soccer contracts since the 2019 season.
Bertsch has worked to bring in three of the top 10 national recruiting classes in his five years. The 2023 recruiting class is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. The 2019 class was rated sixth, while the 2022 recruiting was eighth in the country.
The men’s soccer staff has earned back-to-back A-10 Coach of the Year honors. In addition, it was named the 2021 NCAA Division I Southeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.
Bertsch, whose collegiate coaching career includes stops at national powers Louisville, Xavier, Syracuse and UConn, was also a part of the Academy staff at Major League Soccer's Atlanta United FC. In all, he has more than 20 years of college coaching and playing experience, including helping to develop more than 60 collegiate players to the professional ranks. As a student-athlete and coach, Bertsch has been a part of 12 NCAA Tournament teams including advancing to at least the NCAA second round on nine occasion, the round of 16 on six occasions, and the NCAA Elite Eight twice.
Bertsch was brought on as an assistant coach at SLU in June of 2018. He was the first hire on new head coach Kevin Kalish’ staff.
“I would like to welcome Kris to the Saint Louis University family," Kalish said at the time of Bertsch's hire. "Throughout our interview process, we were looking for a specific person who embraced the values of SLU, our athletic department and men’s soccer program, while also adding to the culture to bring out the very best in our players. Kris has a wealth of experience in college soccer, while also having worked in Major League Soccer and the Development Academy. He has tremendous character and drive to win championships, graduate our student-athletes and be involved in the St. Louis community. Kris will be heavily involved in all aspects of our program. He is an incredible coach and recruiter, and most importantly, a quality person."
“I would like to first thank Head Men’s Soccer Coach Kevin Kalish for the first class interview process," Bertsch said at the time of his hire. "From the moment Kevin and I spoke about the future of the Saint Louis soccer program, it was very clear we shared the same views that winning is and always will be the byproduct of doing things the right way. We both believe in building a culture of excellence and surrounding ourselves with great people to make that happen.
“I’d also like to thank Vice President of Student Development Dr. Kent Porterfield, Director of Athletics Chris May, Senior Associate Director of Athletics Janet Oberle and Head Women’s Soccer Coach Katie Shields for their support and belief in bringing me into the Billiken family. I am excited to share my knowledge of the game, passion for building strong relationships, and desire to succeed to help shape the future of Saint Louis soccer.”
Bertsch has been routinely heralded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country. College Soccer News named him one of the Top 15 Assistant Coaches in the country for three consecutive seasons from 2013-15, then again while at SLU in 2021. He was part of the BIG EAST Conference's Coaching Staff of the Year in 2014, and in 2011 was tabbed the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Hired by Atlanta United FC in the summer of 2016, Bertsch was an integral part of the academy staff over the previous two years. The academy's whose sole purpose was to develop professional players for their USL franchise and first team in MLS. Atlanta United FC was the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy national champion in 2016-17. Bertsch helped to develop more than 25 Atlanta United players to earn youth national team invitations, while the first team concluded the 2018 season as MLS Cup Champions.
At the NCAA level, Bertsch spent five seasons at Xavier, including the last three (2012-14) as Associate Head Coach. During his tenure at Xavier, the Musketeers advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times in five seasons after having never qualified for the tournament previously. In 2010, the Musketeers had the second biggest turnaround in NCAA Division I, going from 2-13-1 to 10-7-4 and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
While at Xavier, Bertsch helped the Musketeers win their first ever A-10 Championships in 2010 and 2011, and did so by impressively knocking off the top three seeds in both seasons. Xavier qualified for the NCAA Tournament on two other occasions as at-large bids, including a run to the NCAA Third Round before losing to the eventual national champion. The Musketeers were the 10th-most winning program during Bertsch's five seasons after compiling an impressive 61-28-17 record during that time. Xavier was also ranked in the NSCAA Top 25 for 25 straight weeks during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Bertsch spent one year as an assistant at Syracuse (2009) and Louisville (2015). He also served as the Director of Soccer Operations at Connecticut for four seasons from 2005 to 2009. During that time, the Huskies compiled an astonishing 59-18-11 record and advanced to four straight NCAA Tournaments, including two NCAA Third Rounds and an NCAA Quarterfinal appearance. The Huskies won two BIG EAST Regular-Season and Tournament Championships and were ranked either the nation’s top team or the #2 team in the national polls during the course of all four of his seasons at UConn.
Bertsch was a four-year starting midfielder at American University, where he earned All-Conference first team honors and helped lead the Eagles to a Patriot League Championship and two NCAA Tournaments, including a second round and NCAA Third Round appearance. He graduated from American with a marketing degree in 2003.
Bertsch and his wife, Julie, have three children – son Kaden and daughters Kenzie and Kora.
