NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University Athletics Department is pleased to announce the hiring of Tobias Esche as the head coach of the men's soccer team. Esche takes over a program that advanced to the semifinal round of the Skyline Conference Championships the previous year and he will look to not only sustain YU's success but guide the Maccabees to the next level.

"I would like to thank Athletic Director Gregory Fox and his incredible staff on entrusting me with this position of the men's soccer head coach at Yeshiva University," Esche said. "I will bring my passion and professionalism for academic and athletic excellence to the men's soccer program. I would also like to thank my former head coach, Eric DaCosta, for helping me on my journey from his player to becoming a coach."
 
Prior to Yeshiva, Esche served as an assistant coach for his alma mater's men's soccer team, Division I's Quinnipiac University, from March 2020 until June 2022. He played three seasons for the program as an undergraduate student-athlete (2013-2015). During his freshman year, he attended the University of North Carolina and was a defender for the Tar Heels men's soccer program.

In the spring of 2021, Esche helped coach the Bobcats to the No. 1 seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament where Quinnipiac won a pair of playoff matches to earn a berth in the league championship match. During Esche's tenure as assistant coach, QU received votes three times for the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll (one time in the spring of 2021 and twice in the fall of 2021), which recognizes the top Division I programs in the country. He guided six Bobcats players to All-MAAC honors, including MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year Jarred Mazzola (Spring of 2021) and United Soccer Coaches All-East Region honoree Braage Aasen (Spring of 2021).
 
"Tobias shared the exact vision and exhibited the mature leadership we were seeking in a head coach for our men's soccer program," Yeshiva University Director of Athletics Greg Fox said. "He is taking over a team that made positive strides last year, and under his direction, I can see this becoming a sustainable situation of challenging for a conference championship on an annual basis."

As a player for the Bobcats, Esche's strong presence on the defensive end helped lead his team to its first ever MAAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history during his sophomore campaign in 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 in business administration from Southern New Hampshire University in 2017.