Leading future leaders: Naperville native coaches ‘the best and the brightest our country has’

Brian Plotkin coaches the rare NCAA Division I men’s soccer program whose team captains literally might become captains.

A 2002 Naperville North graduate who starred on two national champions at Indiana University and was runner-up for the 2005 Hermann Trophy before playing professionally, since 2021 Plotkin has led the Army men’s soccer program.

With no family military background save an uncle who was a reservist, Plotkin came from an assistant’s position at Notre Dame to what he called a special place in West Point, N.Y.

“You understand very quickly you’re a part of something much larger than just a soccer program,” said Plotkin, 41.

“You are a component of an institution that is developing some of the best and brightest that our country has.” One that holds reverence for, as Plotkin said, “those who came before.”

After beating Colgate 2-0 on Tuesday to earn the No. 3 seed at the Patriot League Tournament, should the Black Knights (7-5-5) beat No. 6 Lafayette on Saturday they’ll advance to a tournament semifinal at Lehigh on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

That’s a special day at West Point.

“We’re at a place that everybody who graduates and commissions from here becomes a veteran,” Plotkin said. “It definitely holds a near and dear spot to everybody that’s gone here, everybody that comes through here, and those that have served as a whole.”

A unique place

As a head coach, Army can be an interesting destination considering the realities there compared with nearly everywhere else on the Division I athletic scene.

After the first day of their third year at Army and all service academies, Plotkin said, students state their “affirmation,” a pledge to graduate and a five-year service commitment.

“Nobody leaves West Point after the first day of your third year,” Plotkin said.

Still, with NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money not allowed in the academies as it is elsewhere by the millions, Plotkin learned that players could leave as underclassmen. It was painful.

Debuting at Army in 2021 with the program’s first winning record since 2017 at 8-7-3, Plotkin in 2022 led his men to an 8-4-5 regular-season record and 5-1-3 in the Patriot League — including a proud 2-0 victory in the annual Army-Navy Cup.

It was the Black Knights’ first regular-season Patriot League title in 26 years. Plotkin earned coach of the year.

Shortly after that 2022 season five key contributors, underclassmen who included the league’s offensive player of the year and its “rookie” of the year, entered the transfer portal.

“A bit of a crash course in modern athletics, and some of the uniqueness of West Point,” Plotkin said.

“It left us with a big hole in 2023 and 2024, where we didn’t have upperclassmen necessarily leading the program, and here at West Point that’s a challenge.”

It was a challenge Plotkin overcame. In 2024 he received the academy’s Coach K Award, which recognizes West Point athletic personnel for character and leadership, named after Mike Krzyzewski.

Reaffirmation

Plotkin and his staff reexamined the culture of the program, its expectations and chain of communication, its training environment. Now Army has balance across all four classes. It enters the Patriot League Tournament on a three-game winning streak, its longest since 2022, plus wins earlier this season over Penn State and Villanova.

“We really got into our identity, who we want to be and how do we want to live it each day,” said Plotkin, who realized he wanted to be a college coach during his time at Indiana under head coaches Jerry Yeagley and Mike Freitag. Plotkin’s younger brother, Mark, is in his eighth year coaching the DePaul University men’s team.

It’s by necessity a unique subset of athletes Brian Plotkin coaches and recruits to be Black Knights, recruiting being one of his favorite parts of the job.

It starts like anywhere, he said, finding the best players with solid academics. Then it gets personal.

“So much of what we look for is recruiting people with honesty and transparency and building the right relationships, because our culture within the soccer program is our superpower — it’s developmental, it’s educational, it’s competitive and it’s relentless. We want players who identify with those things,” Plotkin said.

“Then, when they come here there’s a larger purpose to why they’re coming here, and rather than making a decision after six months — like you’re seeing across the country, to go to a new environment and hope for a different outcome — here you lean into the difficulty, you lean into the challenge, and you know you’re going to emerge from this place far better than when you arrived,” he said.

This Naperville boy is all-in as an Army man.

“I feel really fortunate to lead this program,” Plotkin said. “I think it’s a special place. It’s for so many more people than I think naturally would believe it’s for. And I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be at such a special institution, and I hope that I can be here for many years to come.”

Meet the ‘Goose’

Robbie Henderson, a senior at Wauconda High School, has a real gift for fishing.

The No. 1-ranked angler in the National Bass Fishing Trail junior program, the boy known as “Goose” finished third at the 2025 junior championships in Spring City, Tenn., where he’s a regular competitor. He’ll go back again in June 2026.

Also the two-time defending state champion of the Illinois High School Association bass fishing competition in the unified division, in 2022 Henderson was the youngest speaker ever to address the Northern Illinois Sports Show.

Last we checked with him, his fishing résumé (yes, he has a fishing résumé) lists 29 sponsors. His parents, Jeff and Lisa, got him his first rod, Zebco’s “My First Fishing Pole,” before Robbie was born.

The Goose, who has high-functioning autism, can’t tell you how many fish he’s caught in one outing.

“You lose count around 30,” he said.

This bass whisperer may provide some tips at an open house from 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ela Area Public Library, 275 Mohawk Trail, Lake Zurich.

Jeff and Robbie Henderson established Goose’s Special Fishing Family as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, with the goal of taking people with special needs out fishing.

The open house will offer information about the organization, fishing and lake information, answer questions and more.

There’s no cost to attend. To register, email info@gooseSFF.org.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com