Tocco Featured in In-Depth Interview

A longtime Rockhurst University coach and professor recently sat down with a local TV sports channel for a 30-minute conversation drawing on his decades of experience.

Tony Tocco, Ph.D., was featured in a Kansas City Metro Sports program titled “A Conversation with Tony Tocco.” The 30-minute interview on the Time Warner cable station covered Tocco’s 42 years as the men’s head soccer coach at Rockhurst University, along with his role as the head of the University’s accounting department.

Tocco, who received Rockhurst University’s first Magis Award for his longtime commitment to the University last January in St. Charles, Mo., started at Rockhurst in 1969 as an accounting professor and assistant men’s soccer coach. The St. Louis native took over as the head coach in 1970 and has amassed 618 victories, the second-most of all time among intercollegiate soccer coaches.

Tocco said he was glad to have had the opportunity to share thoughts on his experiences.

“It is an honor for me and Rockhurst to be considered for this special program,” he said. “They did a great job of highlighting my life.”

Known for his spirit and leadership both in and outside the classroom, Tocco has influenced generations of Rockhurst students, offering academic advice, career guidance and job connections. When he’s not teaching or coaching, Tocco is an accounting and financial consultant with expertise in the mergers and acquisitions of small- and medium-sized firms. He appears frequently on television news broadcasts, offering expert opinion on local and national financial stories, particularly those involving the telecommunications industry.

Looking back on his years, he said he sees his relationship with the University as mutually fulfilling.

"I hope that I have given back to Rockhurst as much as they have given me,” Tocco said. “Rockhurst has been good to me in so many ways. I have met great people and seen Rockhurst grow. God put me right where I wanted to be."

Tocco received his master’s and doctoral degrees in accounting and finance from Saint Louis University, where he played on the only undefeated and untied soccer team in SLU history and pitched in the 1965 College Baseball World Series. He and his wife Phyllis live in Fairway, Kan. They have four children: Amy, Natalie, Leonard and Charlie.