Casper Introduces Men’s Soccer Coaching Staff
8/30/2023 2:11:00 PM | Men's Soccer
NEW YORK — Columbia men's soccer head coach Michael Casper announced the hire of Jason Orban and Tobias Esche as assistant coaches on Wednesday. Orban arrives at Columbia after spending the past four seasons at St. Francis Brooklyn. Esche was previously the head coach and Assistant Athletic Director for Fundraising at Yeshiva.
"I am very excited to welcome Tobias, Jason and their families to Columbia as a part of our men's soccer staff," Casper said. "They both bring an incredible work rate, high soccer IQ, and a true desire to make our student-athletes better. They have helped us hit the ground running and I look forward to working with each of them to see how we can continue to grow Columbia men's soccer."
Orban helped guide the Terriers to back-to-back Northeast Conference Regular Season Championships in the spring and fall of 2021 – the fall 2020 season was moved to the spring due to the pandemic. That spring, St. Francis also advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the NEC Tournament title. Orban and the SFC staff were named both the Northeast Conference and United Soccer Coaches Northeast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. His time at St. Francis saw the Terriers record four straight winning seasons, earn two NEC Male Student-Athlete of the Year awards, six all-region selections and a 2022 MLS Super Draft selection. The Terriers also won four straight United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Awards with Orban playing a large role in academics and student-athlete leadership. It marked the first time SFC won multiple back-to-back awards.
Prior to St. Francis, Orban served as the head men's soccer coach at NCAA Div. III St. Joseph's College out on Long Island. In one season, he led the program to its best regular season winning percentage in six years, while his attack led the Skyline Conference in offensive statistics. Orban also coached the conference's player of the year. He started at St. Joseph's as the top assistant and goalkeeper coach from 2016-18.
At the club level, Orban was most recently the Youth Technical Director for Brooklyn City FC since June of 2021. Among his many duties, Orban created the club game model, training methodology, curriculum and periodization plans. He also managed the club's Men's Cosmopolitan Soccer League program since August 2020, also serving as Director of Goalkeeping and head coach. Brooklyn City won the city title in 2022 (Harry J. Saunders) and was promoted in the CSL from Div. III to Div. II.
Orban holds a United States Soccer Federation B License and was recognized as a United Soccer Coaches "30 Under 30" list in 2019-2020.
Before his coaching career, Orban was a men's soccer student-athlete at Stony Brook from 2013-15. He was a goalkeeper and started 27 matches for the Seawolves. He was a two-time America East Player of the Week. Orban earned a Master of Arts in higher education administration from Stony Brook (2016) and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in history (2015).
Esche arrives from nearby Yeshiva University, where he served as both head coach and Assistant AD of Fundraising during the 2022-23 academic year. In his post, he developed a competitive NCAA Div. III men's soccer program which advanced to the Skyline Conference Finals for the first time in program history in 2022. That year's team went 9-3-3, 6-3-2 Skyline, also earning the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award, two all-region selections and a combined six all-conference honorees.
Prior to Yeshiva, Esche was the assistant coach at Quinnipiac University from March 2020 – June 2022. Esche was in charge of helping to create the season practice plan, analyzing and evaluating players for the incoming recruiting class, as well as organizing community outreach. Quinnipiac won the Spring 2021 MAAC regular season title and advanced to the MAAC Tournament final.
As a player for the Bobcats, Esche's strong presence on the defensive end helped lead his team to the MAAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history (2013). Esche started all 20 matches during that historic season. He is a two-time All-MAAC First Team selection, a 2013 All-MAAC Rookie Team recipient, and was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-North Atlantic Region second team honoree twice. In 2015, Esche was selected to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District team and earned a spot on the MAAC All-Academic Team. He produced three goals and tallied four assists for a total of 10 points during his time at Quinnipiac.
Esche graduated from Quinnipiac with a bachelor's degree in business management in 2016. He then joined the Southern New Hampshire University men's soccer team for his graduate season, serving as a team captain and earning a spot on the Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team.
After his collegiate soccer career concluded, Esche played professional soccer for BSV Redhen, in Germany, and became the team captain after just one season. He also served as the head coach of the U-11 Boys of the Youth Development Academy of BSV Rehden. Esche earned his UEFA B License in 2018 for coaching, while also assisting in scouting local players for the "Fussball Project" in Germany. After moving back to Connecticut in 2020, Esche played professional soccer for New Amsterdam FC.
A native of Bremen, Germany, Esche earned his master's degree in business administration from Southern New Hampshire University in 2017.
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