Amalie Benjamin: Are we ever going to see you guarantee another victory?

Tim Lenahan: That was a one-time thing. (The 2001 season) was a tough season. I was trying to take some pressure off the team. The last time I guaranteed a win was my first game at Lafayette. I guaranteed a 2-0 victory. And we won 2-0. You’ve got to take some risks in this business.

AB: What’s the best thing about recruiting?

TL: Selling your vision and having them believe your vision. We sent out letters every day for a week to juniors. We called it our “shock and awe” campaign.

One of the things we send out is about Vince Lombardi and Joe Montana. And Joe Montana, Vince Lombardi and I all have the same birthday. But when a kid tells you he’s not coming, that stings a little on the emotional side, not the soccer side.

AB: You’re building a team for the 2005 season. Do you expect to win then?

TL: That’s when we’ll peak. That’s the plan. We’ll have a team of seniors. That group came here when there was nothing. They’ll have a toughened edge to them.

(At this point I thought the interview was over. Lenahan had other ideas.)

TL: I’m going to give you the Myers-Briggs personality test. I’m an ENFP. (Extroverted, intuitive, feeling, perceiving.) You would be an ISTJ. (Introverted, sensing, thinking, judging.)

(After administering the four-question version of the test, Lenahan determined that I’m an ESTJ.)

TL: I’m the dreamer. I spend 90 percent of my time thinking about the program five years, 10 years from now. If you see me driving, get out of the way. (The team) doesn’t get my flexibility. Now I have to focus on these kids that don’t think that way. It’s important to know your team and where they’re coming from. And it’s important that they know where you’re coming from.

(Lenahan then proceeded to interview me about my social life and the NU experience.)

TL: You can write the introduction to my book. It will be the first time someone gets blasted in their own book. The name of the book: “From Worst to First: The Building of a Champion.” It’s what I think about while I’m driving, so beware of a red ’97 Pathfinder with Pennsylvania tags.

Amalie Benjamin is a Weinberg junior. She can be reached at [email protected].