Do you want to be the head coach?

That question sat on the mind of Chris Kranjc for a couple of days when (then) Hastings College athletic director Bob Boerigter offered the job to coach men's soccer in 1999.

"I had been a grad assistant for a year and the head coaching job opened up," Kranjc said. "I didn't know if I could to it. I was getting my masters at Hastings at the time. My wife, Sarah, had a job at the college, and we had a new kid and I thought I could figure it out, even though I was still a student in college."

The result was nothing but success for the Broncos.

Hastings won the NAIA national championship last December with a 25-0 record after winning its 11th Great Plains Athletic Conference title and qualifying for its seventh NAIA national playoffs.

Kranjc is the Journal Star State College Coach of the Year.

"We're always trying to grow and change and improve," Kranjc said. "Even after last year's national championship, we started working for next season by Jan. 1 and have plans to change some things for the better already."

The work in the spring and the summer "team bonding" make the Broncos special as a team, Kranjc said.

Under his direction, the Broncos run a fireworks stand in Hastings in the summer.

"It's a deal where the kids learn about each other, learn how to handle the on-the-spot decisions and learn a level of responsibility that they might not pick up elsewhere."

"Team building is important, and through this project in the summer, the players all learn about each other and work on problem solving together."

On the field, the concerted effort paid off the past 12 seasons under Kranjc.

The Broncos, known for offense, set a NAIA tournament record for most goals (21) in the playoffs and outscored opponents 21-4 in the national playoffs.

Led by goalkeeper Cody Poteat, a junior from Lincoln Pius X; Nate Polak, a forward from Pius; forward Jordan Green of Lincoln Southwest; and midfielder Yannic Thiel, the Broncos dominated the entire schedule last year.

"This was a team that we didn't have to do a lot of tinkering with," Kranjc said. "I've had teams that were like that and had teams that we needed to work a lot, every day. It depends on the kids you have and the character of those kids."

The Broncos placed four players on the all-tournament team and picked up the team sportsmanship award. Poteat won the Champions of Character award for the national tournament.

"The team dynamic changes every year," Kranjc said. "I keep up on the game and the adjustments we need to make, but I have to be able to change around a basic philosophy each year. There should probably be a doctorate in coaching for all the changing a coach goes through every season."

Kranjc said he still makes his share of mistakes.

"My first four or five years, there were a lot mistakes and I learned a lot of great things, like how to adjust to each team," he said. "In 2008, when we made the national quarterfinals, we had a laid-back team. In 2009, we had a team that we had to keep preaching to get after it. This last year, we toned it back some because the team was so mature."

Kranjc's background in sports still helps him coach today.

He played football in high school at Millard North for Fred Petito and played high school soccer. Later, after working as an assistant at Omaha Burke, he played for Bellevue University. He works with the Nebraska State Soccer Association coaching education staff and has worked with various national soccer programs.