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Florida Gulf Coast University seems to have found the right man in Bob Butehorn to build its Division I men's soccer program from the ground up.

The 43-year-old is a finisher, as he proved in netting a master's degree last month in Organizational Dynamics (with a focus on leadership and management) from the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as an assistant coach to Rudy Fuller for five seasons, including in 2002 when the Quakers won their first Ivy League title in 22 years and reached a national ranking of 14th.

"It was very tough to do with two kids, a family and a job but it was something I set out to do, and when I start something, I've got to finish it," said Butehorn, who accepted the job Monday night or Tuesday morning ("I can't remember for sure, it's been a blur," he said) and will field his first FGCU team in the fall of 2007.

The graduate work is the reason Butehorn stiff-armed offers to again become a head coach (he was one at St. Bonaventure from 1995-99, kicking the program into a regional and nationally ranked one) the past few years.

"He's not a secret," Fuller said. "He's well-known in the coaching community -- at the youth level, the college level, the professional level, the national team level. He has contacts in all those areas and is extremely connected in all those communities.

"There have been a lot of jobs that have come and gone in the past couple of years, but I don't think there's anybody that hit the nail on the head like (FGCU athletic director) Carl (McAloose) and his staff did. They're going to be very happy with Bob."

McAloose apparently won a recruiting battle for Butehorn, a hot commodity in soccer circles.

"I tell you what, I give Carl and his staff a lot of credit because they have found one of the best," Fuller said. "He's as good as you're going to get as a coach. He's got all the facets covered. He's a very good recruiter, has a great eye for talent. He knows the game inside and out from a tactical standpoint."

Said Butehorn: "I'm going to give a lot of the credit to Carl. From the first time I met him, I told my wife (Sandy) he is a guy I really respected -- there were no bells or whistles, there was no smoke. It was just him, and he gets after it and trusts his instincts and I was very, very impressed with him."

The feeling apparently is mutual. McAloose was at Atlantic Sun Conference meetings in Macon, Ga., on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment, but said through a release: "(Butehorn) is well respected in the soccer community and has ties to the development programs here in Florida. We think he is an excellent fit to build our new program as we join the Atlantic Sun Conference and think he can make an impact for us on a national level."

Butehorn appears to be a perfect fit. He knows the area from playing midfielder for the University of Tampa team that won the Division II national title in 1981 and he worked in this area for a development company from 2000-2001.

He has closely recruited this state, sending players from Dunnedin, Miami and Tampa to Maryland, where he was an assistant from 1989-95. He has close and important contacts near here, including good friends John Hackworth and Keith Fulk, who run the national Under-17 camp at the IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton.

"That's a resource that -- just being able to go up there and seeing kids come in and out of there -- I'll obviously be looking into," Butehorn said. "I know I've got enough people in the Florida area that I can call and figure out where the talent is if I haven't seen it."

Butehorn has had his eyes on FGCU from the start.

"I worked (in Southwest Florida) and knew the area very well and actually saw the beginnings of Florida Gulf Coast at that time, and just really fell in love with the university -- thought it had so much potential," said Butehorn, noting he also has relatives in the area.

"All the givens were there for this one -- being the first coach, being able to really get your arms around it. I'm really excited about it."

Butehorn said he believes soccer has a solid foundation in the area, but that it has room to grow.

"That was one of my biggest draws," Butehorn said. "I think Southwest Florida is an area that has made a huge, huge jump. I know they've got some clubs there now and they've done a good job of producing a player here or there. Honestly, one of the biggest attractions is the enthusiasm and passion for the sport there. That is a good fit for me because I really want to be involved in the community and the growth of the sport in that area."

Fuller and Butehorn go back 15 years. Fuller played for Butehorn for one season during his Maryland days and coached the Olympic Developmental team with him in the early 1990s.

"I jumped at the chance to have him on my staff," Fuller said. "I said to anybody who would listen, 'He's one of the best coaches in the country at any level.'

"He has what I think is one of the most unique abilities around and that is he has the abililty to push individuals beyond what they think they can accomplish while also developing a tremendous rapport, tremendous relationship, with individuals.

"I think there are a lot of guys out there in any number of sports that are good at pushing people beyond what they think they can do, but on the flip side of it, maybe they aren't able to have the rapport with those individuals.

"He's a players' coach. The phrase is used far too often these days, but he's as good at that as they come. He has a knack for really letting everyone know where they stand, keeping them focused on a common goal and working hard."

Butehorn -- who will move this way from Shamong, N.J., with his wife and two daughters as soon as possible, probably by mid-July -- already is at it.

"I actually started as soon as I found out," Butehorn said. "You really have to to get the word out."

Now that it is, expect Butehorn to finish the job.

"I set out for something, I'm a person that absolutely has to finish what I started," Butehorn said. "And I made a commitment to my graduate work here at Penn and I wasn't leaving until I had it all done.

"It just so happens that things worked out this way and I'm very happy for it."

Find additional coverage in Thursday's edition of the Daily News.