Colten Holdren pours his heart into Marietta soccer
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DEVOLA -- Todd Morris is entering his 15th season as the head coach for the Marietta High boys soccer program.
Morris has helped guide the Tigers to a lot of success during his first 14 years at the helm, but there's also a man behind the scenes who deserves a lot of credit for helping to create Marietta's winning tradition.
Colten Holdren, who was a four-year starter under Morris from 2008 to 2011, joined the MHS coaching staff in 2014. His contributions to not just the Tiger program, but to local soccer as a whole, have been massive.
"Colten is probably the greatest asset to soccer in this area," Morris said. "He trains not just the Marietta players, but through his club work, he is training players from the whole area. I challenge anyone to find a better trainer within a 100-mile radius."
In addition to his assistant coaching role at Marietta and working fulltime at Ameriturf, a lawn care service in Marietta, Holdren also coaches several age groups in the Club Ohio United during the spring.
"It's been unbelievably rewarding, way more than I ever would have thought when I first started," Holdren said of his coaching career. "I love doing it so much. I started with the high school program and then got involved with coaching Club Ohio United. I started out with high school age groups, then started to evolve into coaching younger kids. I was a little bit nervous doing that at first because all my experience was with high school age kids. Now, you're talking about 6, 7, 8-year-olds, and it's different, but it's given me a greater appreciation for it.
"You see their progression and how rapid it can be at times, then watch them plateau and hit a wall, then break through that plateau. It's a balance of teaching them but also making the game enjoyable so they'll want to keep playing."
Between coaching at the high school level and the club level, Holdren spends most nights at soccer fields in Devola.
"Fueled by his love of the game, the work that he puts in to better himself translates into great training sessions," Morris said. "He is the most in-demand trainer, as is evident by the fact that he not only was the coach and trained five different club teams in the spring, which equated to two practices a night Monday through Friday, but he had other club coaches contacting him constantly, asking him to be a guest and run sessions for their team. No one works harder, and no one does more for soccer in this area."
Holdren has learned a lot under Morris, whose Tigers have become a perennial Southeast District powerhouse. Interest in soccer in Marietta is constantly growing, and the success of the MHS boys and girls programs are a major contributing factor.
"I think in Marietta, it's a lot about tradition," Holdren said. "When you look at how good of a job Todd has done with the success of the program, it's huge. That's where we're different. A lot of programs are changing coaches every three to four years. Marietta has had Todd for 31 years, and he's about to start his 15th year as head coach. Having him at the helm for that long, that's an advantage a lot of other programs don't have. You see the trickle-down effect. You see a lot more buy-in from alumni and community members. The program has tradition and history, and at the end of the day it boils down to Todd, really."
Morris is the first to admit that he couldn't do it by himself.
"For us, (Holdren) has been the main architect of our success the last decade," Morris said. "What an incredibly loyal coach and friend that is going to continue to have a tremendous impact on soccer for years to come."
Over the years, Holdren has worked tirelessly to expand his soccer and coaching knowledge. He's taken license courses and worked within United Soccer Coaches, the national coaches association that encompasses all levels of coaches, from the professional, collegiate, high school and club levels. He has served as the Director of Coaching for Club Ohio United, and also currently works with the Columbus Crew Academy.
"He has gone above and beyond," Morris said. "The body of work he has and the impact he has had on soccer and individuals in this area is huge."
Holdren has known nothing but success at MHS, going back to his playing days when the Tigers won three district titles in four years. Since joining the coaching staff in 2014, he's helped Marietta win four East Central Ohio League championships and one district championship in addition to making four district finals appearances. He also watched the 2019 and 2021 teams put together undefeated regular seasons.
Holdren's impact hasn't gone unnoticed by his peers around the state. Each of the past three seasons, he has been named the district's Assistant Coach of the Year by the South East District Soccer Coaches Association.
"I definitely take a lot of pride in it," Holdren said. "I've been lucky enough to win it the past three years. I want to be the best coach I possibly can and make players better. I put a lot of work into it, but I love it. Getting that validation is nice."
With Holdren's resume, there are plenty of high schools in Ohio that would love to scoop him up and have him build up their soccer program. Holdren is open to the idea of one day becoming a head coach. For now, though, he's happy in Marietta.
"I've definitely thought about it before, and there's been (head coaching) opportunities," Holdren said, "but I'm really happy at Marietta. I love working under Todd. It would have to be a big step forward for me to want to leave."
The 2022 soccer season is fast approaching as the Tigers are scheduled to open Aug. 20 at Fairfield Union. Holdren has high hopes for this year's Marietta team even after graduating a very talented 2021 class.
"Todd and I like to joke that we don't rebuild, we reload," Holdren said. "I'm confident in how we can build players. We lose some really good players, but I like our team. We're a little young, but we have a lot of talent. We had a really good spring club season. I'm definitely excited."
Jordan Holland can be reached at jholland@mariettatimes.com.
Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.