Highlands grad Gabe Norris ready to impress new Robert Morris men's soccer coach Jonathan Potter

Transfer? Though he never expressly used the word, Gabe Norris said “there was definitely a lot of thought” after coach Jason O’Keefe stepped down as coach of the Robert Morris men’s soccer program after the 2022 season.

Certainly, the Highlands grad isn’t the first college athlete to experience a coaching change. But seeing O’Keefe go was a bigger blow to him than most.

After the initial shock wore off, Norris turned the page and is fully bought in to what new coach Jonathan Potter wants to do with the Colonials. Robert Morris went 4-3-2 in the Horizon League last season and was on the brink of what Norris called “a great season” when it was edged by Oakland on PKs in the first round of the conference tournament.

Potter is a proven winner. In his previous stop at Presbyterian, he took a team that was last in the nation in RPI the year before his arrival and, in two seasons, made it a Big South champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier.

“Just from the short time we have spent with him so far, it’s pretty clear why he’s had success in the past,” said Norris, a rising junior midfielder. “I think he can definitely build on that with us at RMU.”

Norris is excited about the program’s prospects now but said it was hard to get over O’Keefe’s departure. His recruitment, he said, was different than a lot of other athletes.

O’Keefe had established himself as a successful coach at Appalachian State and was recruiting Norris to the burgeoning program in Boone, N.C. Then, because of financial issues exacerbated by the pandemic, App State — and every other school in the Big South — shut down men’s soccer in spring 2020. (It returned last season.)

When he got hired at Robert Morris, O’Keefe contacted Norris and asked him if he would like to stay “home” and play soccer. Norris jumped at the chance.

“A lot of people think (Robert Morris) was just a local option, and that really wasn’t the case,” Norris said. “I hadn’t looked at RMU at all until O’Keefe had gotten the job.

“I did choose RMU because of him — and some other reasons, obviously — but the initial decision and why I looked at RMU in the first place was because of coach O’Keefe. … Eventually, I came to the realization that he’s not coming back, and I need to accept that and give whatever new coach they decided to hire my 110% and just get on with it.”

Potter was hired in December, so he and the team have had more than six months to get acquainted. And they had the benefit of the entire spring season to work together.

Potter said he likes what he has seen from Norris in the early stages. Norris, he said, is good in the air, can cover a lot of ground and has proven to be sound on the ball.

“He’s been fully engaged from Day 1,” Potter said. “I like his work ethic and his mentality of trying to make himself and the other guys around him better.

“He can contribute in a lot of different ways that leads to winning. He’s one of those guys who can kind of allow the attacking guys to kind of do some cool things while behind they have the security of Gabe, who is fully bought into his job defensively.”

Norris said Potter has made it clear no jobs are guaranteed. With a clean slate, Potter will be building from ground zero and allowing the best players to emerge regardless of previous experience.

For Norris to be one of those who stands out, that means continuing on the trajectory he has established over his first two seasons. He appeared in 11 matches, with two starts, while being hampered by an ankle sprain as a freshman, then played in all 16 matches with 11 starts last season.

At 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, he is a little bigger than when he entered RMU — he said he sometimes is told his physicality is now one of his strong suits — and he has worked to stay calm on the ball and be stronger in possession. As a holding midfielder, his job is to connect the defense to the offense when the Colonials gain possession in the back.

He said he also has worked to develop his leadership skills, again seeing himself as a connection between two points.

“I’m not that ‘hype everyone up before a game’ type of leader,” he said. “I would say I lead by example and make sure everybody is keeping accountability and keeping that bridge between the players and the coaches.”

The Colonials finished in the middle of a tightly bunched Horizon League last season. Just five points separated first-place Cleveland State and sixth-place Detroit Mercy. Norris said, despite starting over with a new coaching regime, he is confident Robert Morris can be a factor in the league and, perhaps, contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

At the same time, he recognizes the amount of work and sacrifice required to make that a reality.

Now that the tremors caused by the coaching change have settled, he and the rest of the Colonials can focus on that work.

“I’m a pretty optimistic person, but I’m also realistic,” he said. “I am realistic in the sense that I know what it’s going to take. We’ve done it before with our first coach. That was pretty much a rebuild when I came in my first year, and I think we had a lot more success than people thought we were going to.

“But I also know what went into that. It’s going to take that again. … Once guys come in and we get everyone on the same page, everyone’s going to realize what it’s going to take. … I think we’re going to have a great season.”