Perfect situation
David Di Piazza was initially just trying to help.
When the head coaching position with the Oak Mountain High School boys soccer program became open in the summer, Tina Mills — one of Oak Mountain’s athletic directors — asked an old friend and colleague for some potential leads to pursue.
“I sent feelers and was working with her to find a coach for her,” Di Piazza said.
Later, Mills and the Di Piazza family were at a birthday party for an Oak Mountain faculty member. That’s when the search concluded.
“She asked if I would be interested in this job and that’s just kind of how it happened,” Di Piazza said.
Di Piazza, currently serving as the Birmingham-Southern College women’s soccer coach, agreed to add the Oak Mountain boys job to his list of responsibilities. Di Piazza previously coached at Oak Mountain in 2015 and 2016, leading the girls program to a Class 7A state title in 2015.
With the college soccer season taking place in the fall, the high school season in the spring and his wife working at Oak Mountain, it was the perfect situation for Di Piazza to coach both teams.
“With our schedule at Birmingham-Southern and Division III, we get 15 days with our team in the spring, so it’s a very flexible time,” he said. “It was easy to do.”
Di Piazza is no stranger to the high school soccer scene in the Birmingham area. He coached soccer at John Carroll from 2002-14, winning state championships with the boys (2008-10, 2012) and girls (2014) before his two-year stint with the Oak Mountain girls team.
This time around, he’ll coach the boys team, which won three straight 7A titles from 2015-17 under head coach Dan DeMasters, who was approved as Thompson High School’s new boys coach in July. Wade Lyon will assist Di Piazza with the program.
“It’s a good problem to have to be at a program that has those expectations,” Di Piazza said. “I have had the fortune of coaching two high schools that have had phenomenal programs. My goal every year I’ve been at a high school is to win a state championship.
“Dan did a great job and the culture he has established is amazing. I look forward to going in there and continuing it.”
Di Piazza said there will be some differences with his high school boys team and college women’s team. In high school, coaches are allowed more time with the team and the season is longer than a college campaign. But at the end of the day, “soccer is soccer.”
“They have to play 80 or 90 minutes, the ball is round, field size is the same and the number of players is the same,” he said. “It’s not that much different in terms of expectations.”
Di Piazza is in his third season at Birmingham-Southern. Last fall, he was named the conference coach of the year, as the Panthers won a school-record 15 matches and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Athletic Association tournament. He previously served as a volunteer assistant with the men’s team in 2006 and again in 2015.
This fall, the Panthers have been struck by the injury bug, but that has allowed some younger players to garner experience and playing time that otherwise may not have been available, which Di Piazza is hopeful will only help down the road.