Tim Barrera, the winningest coach in Northern Colorado history, starts his 10th season with the Bears in 2008. It will be his program's third year playing in the Big Sky Conference.

Barrera, who led the Bears to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments at the Division II level, helped Northern Colorado through the reclassification process, which the athletic department completed prior to the 2007 school year.

Barrera has compiled a 145-116-2 record in his 15-year head-coaching career, and an 86-72-9 record in his nine seasons in Greeley. He has led Northern Colorado to a pair of North Central Conference

Championships (1999 and 2001) and a pair of Division II NCAA Tournament berths (2001 and 2002). His squads have also won six NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) Team Academic awards, four NSCAA Team Ethics awards, set or tied 15 school records and won 13 or more games four times. In his first year at the helm of the Bears' program in 1999, Barrera was named NCC coach of the year for his efforts.

Last season, Barrera led the Bears to the Big Sky Conference Championship game in their first year of postseason eligibility since the reclassification . It was the first time in school history that any sport had accomplished such a feat.

In total, Barrera has coached 13 all-region and 48 all-conference selections at Northern Colorado.

Twenty-nine times his athletes have been selected as academic all-conference selections, and seven of his athletes have garnered CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.

Barrera helped Northern Colorado's Mandy Nilsen become a two-time All-American in 1999 and 2001. She was the only Division II athlete to make the NSCAA/adidas All-American Scholar first-team, and she graduated from Northern Colorado holding virtually every Bears scoring record.

Before joining the Northern Colorado staff, Barrera served as head coach at Elmira College in Elmira, N.Y. In five years there, he led the Soaring Eagles to five consecutive winning seasons, posting a 58-31-3 (.647) record overall. During Barrera's tenure, Elmira earned its first NCAA and Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) postseason appearances (1997 and 1998). In the process, Barrera produced six NSCAA Regional All-American performers and six NSCAA All-Academic Scholars, while his squads received team academic and ethics awards from the NSCAA in 1997 and 1998.

While at Elmira, Barrera was also active in the governance of collegiate women's soccer, as he served as the chairman of the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletics Association (NYSWCAA) Soccer Committee. He was also a member of the New York Regional Ranking Committee.

Prior to arriving at Elmira, Barrera spent one year (1993) as head women's coach at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., one year as director of player development at the Northeast Attack Soccer Club (in Wilkes-Barre) and one year as a student assistant coach at

Virginia Tech. He holds a B License from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and a premier diploma from the NSCAA.

Barrera earned his bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 1986 and his master's degree from Elmira College in 1998. While at Virginia Tech, he was a four-year starter (1981-84) and graduated as the program's all-time leading scorer with 19 goals. He was named to the Virginia All-State team as a senior (1984) and was also honored as the team's most valuable player after helping the Hokies to an 8-8-2 record under legendary coach Jerry Cheynet (238 career wins).

Barrera, who was born in Ithaca, N.Y. but raised in Freehold, N.J. -- the same hometown as Bruce Springsteen -- serves as Northern Colorado's director of soccer camps, and also works with the Northern Colorado Soccer Club and is a member of the Colorado State Youth Soccer Association (CSYSA) State Olympic Development Program staff.