BYU women's soccer motivated to send retiring coach, legend out on high note

PROVO — Nobody was quite sure what was happening when the BYU women's soccer team was called into a mid-summer meeting in the team room near head coach Jennifer Rockwood's office, but the presence of athletic director Brian Santiago and other administrators indicated it was something big.

Ellie Walbruch, the team's leading scorer last year, thought they were presenting rings for winning the Big 12 Tournament a year ago. Avery Frischknecht, the senior center back who has started all 41 games she's been available for the past two seasons, thought somebody had bought tickets to the FIFA men's World Cup for the whole group.

Then Rockwood stood in front of the room, spoke a bit about her journey from playing and coaching for the club program prior to being elevated to Division I status in 1995, and revealed the news: The 2026 campaign would be her last.

Rockwood, the only head coach the program has ever known in the Division I era, was retiring.

"Obviously, it was emotional," Walbruch recalled. "She is the G.O.A.T, and what is BYU women's soccer without her. But I'm really excited for her, and I know she is at peace with her decision. Now let's go out with a bang, and make this year for her."

After initial shock and a wave of emotions, Frischknecht recalled the mood as "super somber" for a group of players who grew up with wanting to play for BYU, but also wanting to play for The Coach their entire lives.

"When you think of BYU soccer, you think of Jen Rockwood," Frischknecht said. "With her leaving the program, we're super happy for her — but she's done so much for that program that we want to give her the best season. She deserves it, and she deserves the world."

In 31 years as an NCAA varsity sport, Rockwood's soccer team has won 17 regular-season conference titles and nine tournament championships while navigating the Western Athletic, Mountain West, West Coast and Big 12 conferences. She's coached 24 All-Americans, 13 Academic All-Americans, nine MAC Hermann Trophy candidates, and watched 18 players play professionally and nine represent the United States at the U-20 level or higher.

The seven-time conference coach of the year and two-tie United west region coach of the year whose staff was recognized in after a program-first NCAA College Cup final appearance in 2021 as NCAA Division I women's staff of the year won't soon be forgotten in Provo, nor should she. Rockwood belongs on the Mount Rushmore of women's sports at BYU, on a short list of impactful female coaches led by the late legend Elaine Michaelis.

For seniors like Frischknecht, Walbruch, goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson and defender Ella Rustand-Ford, the opportunity of taking one last lap through South Field and the Big 12 with their coach is a responsibility they hold closely.

"I've known her since I was 10 years old," Walbruch said. "She's been a mentor to me since I was a little girl, even when I was at UCLA. I want to go out and make this year special for us."

Walbruch has a lot of goals for her senior season, including eclipsing the 20-goal mark a year after scoring 16, earning first-team All-America status, and clinching a spot on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list.

But much like the Gipper, she wants to win for Rockwood.

"I've got a lot of big goals, but just sticking to my process is going to help me get there," Walbruch said. "Putting goals in the back of the net is my strength. I'm excited to do that, and what this team has to bring to the table, too."

Plenty has changed during Rockwood's tenure, both on and off the field in college athletics. BYU will use the 2026 season as "a celebration of Rockwood's career, with special tributes planned for the Cougars' home matches at South Field" before conducting a search for the next head coach, according to a news release.

That schedule, which starts Saturday with an exhibition match against Idaho State (8 p.m. MT, ESPN+) includes home dates with USC, Minnesota and Oklahoma; road dates with UCLA, Wisconsin and Utah State; and a Big 12 slate that includes TCU, Texas Tech and in-state rival Utah in Provo.

"Every year I think to myself, did I overschedule?" Rockwood asked rhetorically with a grin on her face. "I've been saying that for a long time ... But it's something we've always decided to do: play a tough nonconference schedule in the early part of the season, and see where we are, what we need to do, and it's really helped us."

"This being Jen's last season, we want to give her the best season ever," Frischknecht said. "That's always in the back of our minds. But we've just got to tak eit one day at a time, one game at a time, and do our best to make it that way."

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