Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

This spring, Santiago Restrepo set his alarm clock for 6:30 every morning. As a goalkeeping coach at University of South Carolina Upstate, Restrepo woke up and made breakfast and coffee before driving 40 minutes to campus for training sessions. After a coaches meeting, he always got to the field ahead of the goalkeepers to set up his sessions.

He hosted three practices a week, and the goalies would arrive around 8 a.m., 30 minutes before the rest of the team. Despite the sun just rising, Restrepo was ready to go.

“(He was) probably the most energetic out of any of us, and it made it super easy to just jump in and kind of get going because there was a certain level that he wanted us to reach,” USC Upstate goalkeeper Cooper Jennings said. “And with his energy, it was much easier to reach that level early.”

After a film session and on-field training, Restrepo would get back on the road to work at his full-time job as a sales representative, which started at 10 a.m. USC Upstate head coach Scott Halkett said Restrepo constantly worked full-time hours with the Spartans despite it being a part-time job.

Restrepo first found his place at USC Upstate from 2014-17 when he played goalkeeper for the Spartans. Before making his presence felt at SU, Restrepo left a strong trail at USC Upstate, allowing just 1.91 goals against in his 14 starts. Following a brief professional career in the Honduras Second Division and with the USL League One’s Greenville Triumph, Restrepo turned to coaching.

He returned to his alma mater to coach from 2020-22 before brief coaching stints with the Triumph and the USWL’s Greenville Liberty. Following a three-month return to USC Upstate this spring, Restrepo was hired by Syracuse on May 17 as an assistant coach and its director of goalkeeping.

Ilana Zahavy | Design Editor

Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said Restrepo has been instrumental in helping goalies Tomas Hut, Jason Smith, Jahiem Wickham and freshman Kyle Jansen since joining the Orange. Hut, the starter, led Syracuse to two shutout wins in the first week of the season en route to being named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week.

“He’s doing a good job of preparing (our) starting goalkeeper, but more importantly, he’s training four goalkeepers,” McIntyre said. “(Restrepo) has a plan for each of them, but also ensuring that all four of them are sharp.”

Restrepo was inspired to coach by one of his Triumph coaches, Alex Blackburn, currently the goalkeeping coach for the Columbus Crew. He got his start in coaching in 2018 at the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy in South Carolina, working with youth players as a part time goalie coach before joining Halkett’s staff as an assistant coach at USC Upstate in 2020.

“When (Restrepo) played, (he was) a student of the game and then that transferred over to his coaching,” Halkett said.

Then, Restrepo split his time between the Spartans and his sales job. Despite a busy schedule, Restrepo was never deterred from working with each goalie on their positioning, while also focusing on the minute details. To help each keeper improve, he looked at each of their strengths and weaknesses and communicated them to the rest of the coaching staff, Halkett said.

“As a goalkeeper, it’s the small margins that count and he was able to bring those out in the goalkeepers and highlight those margins,” Halkett said.

Having been a recent college player, Halkett said that made Restrepo relatable to players. It helped him develop a fresh approach that separated him from other coaches.

Having previously coached youth soccer, where he taught players his way of goalkeeping, Restrepo had to adapt to college players’ different styles. Luca Bulfon, a goalie at USC Upstate, said it was valuable to him because he could use his own technique and Restrepo helped him craft it.

Restrepo’s sessions were game-like. He incorporated repetition in various situations while bringing a high level of intensity. At USC Upstate — and now at Syracuse — he formulated games using a point system that incentivized passing accuracy and deducted points for dropping crosses and allowing goals. It helped keepers prepare well for games, Bulfon said.

Courtesy of Syracuse Athletics

After two years away from the Spartans due to coaching the Triumph and Liberty, Restrepo returned this spring. Since every goalie from his past coaching tenure was gone, he made sure to build connections with the three current Spartan goalkeepers.

“He came in and did a really good job getting to know everybody, what (our) strengths and weaknesses were, how each person was individually and then tailoring the sessions to what we needed individually and as a group,” Jennings said.

Jennings, the starting goalkeeper to begin the Spartans’ 2024 season, said Restrepo’s style was different from other coaches he had. During pregame warmups, Restrepo paid close attention to the details in the goalkeepers’ movements to have them ready from the first minute, Halkett said.

Two goalkeepers that Restrepo previously coached at USC Upstate, Lukas O’Grady and Bulfon, are now goalkeeping coaches. Restrepo’s knowledge rubbed off on O’Grady, who now incorporates part of their training in his own sessions in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Ahead of the 2024 fall season, Bulfon was hired as a volunteer assistant coach at USC Upstate, working with the goalies. Restrepo offered Bulfon help with the new position.

Restrepo appreciates the feeling of knowing that his teachings are getting passed along. Despite the coaching role being difficult at times, he knows that he can leave a lasting impact on his players.

“You want to develop (players) and get the most out of them on the field, but you also want to make sure that when they go home, they’re helping our community,” Restrepo said.

Published on September 10, 2024 at 11:48 pm

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32