Steve Sampson, former manager of the United States Men’s National Team and Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, is in his eighth year and seventh season as head coach of the Cal Poly men’s soccer program in 2021.
 
Sampson’s historic first season in charge in 2015 – during which Cal Poly matched a program record with 11 victories and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years – sparked a seven-season run in which the Mustang program has produced 42 victories, 21 All-Big West Conference selections, three Major League Soccer SuperDraft selections, 11 players signing professional contracts and a 31-15-6 record at home inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
 
Following a cancelled 2020 season, Cal Poly’s 2021 squad produced a 7-6-4 overall record and, with a 5-1-3 Big West mark, finished third in the conference standings on 18 points – the program’s highest total in seven years. Defensively, Cal Poly set a new program record with just 0.88 goals allowed per game.
 
During the 2019 season, Cal Poly posted its fifth successive winning home record at Spanos Stadium under Sampson, set a program record by allowing just 61 shots on goal in 17 matches (3.6 per match), handed 24th-ranked Loyola Marymount a 2-1 defeat on Sept. 26 and hosted a Big West Tournament match for the first time in four seasons.
 
The 2018 Cal Poly squad defeated rival UC Santa Barbara at home for the third time in four years. In 2017, Cal Poly matched a program record by winning five successive matches from Sept. 10-28 and closed the season with a 4-1 home win against UC Santa Barbara. In 2016, Cal Poly handed No. 6 UCLA a 1-0 defeat inside Spanos Stadium.
 
Aside from reaching the 2015 NCAA Tournament and winning 11 matches, Sampson’s initial season on the Spanos Stadium touchline produced a high of No. 20 in the NSCAA Division I Poll and a program record eight All-Big West honorees.