As a corporate lawyer, you could find Scott Budnick pretty much anywhere but the courtroom.

Donning a suit and tie, he spent his days cooped up in offices doing transactional work, like securities, mergers and acquisitions and municipal finance. His main worries included billable hours.

"I always felt like if I was in a courtroom it would be because I screwed up," Budnick said.

Now, the 47-year-old wears sweatpants and soccer cleats, and works outside in the fresh air. He's focused on footwork and reaction time. He's tasked with perhaps the most-important position on his team.

He's the goalkeeper coach for Louisville City FC.

Budnick said his story makes a lot more sense when he walks people through it.

That story has taken him from Kentucky to Virginia to Florida, and from stadiums to classrooms and office towers.

Check out:Louisville City FC beats Atlanta United 2 for first win of the season

But he's essentially back to where he was about 30 years ago — a soccer field in Louisville.

“My path to the law was circuitous, and my return to soccer would be the same," he said.

As a kid in St. Louis, Budnick picked goalie because he was tired of his teammates getting scored on. He stayed because he hated running.

As he got older, he found that he was pretty good at it, too. Plus, he liked its importance and unpredictability.

"It was a position of leadership. It was a position of discipline. There was some risk involved; you’re either the king for the day or the goat and a pariah," he said.

After playing soccer at St. Xavier High School in Louisville and then at William & Mary in Virginia, he appeared in a handful of games with the under-20 U.S. men's national team and played semi-professionally in Virginia.

He was drafted in the 14th round of the inaugural Major League Soccer draft. He played 16 games over three seasons in MLS but retired in 2000 after tearing three knee ligaments in a preseason practice the year before.

More:Louisville City FC balancing past, present and future in quest for 3-peat

When it came time to search for a career, he looked for something that matched the thrill of unpredictability.

He wanted to get into telecommunications, so he got his MBA from Florida Atlantic University in 2001. But concerned about the job market, he opted to attend law school at Nova Southeastern University, graduating in 2004.

"I had always had been curious about the law, so I thought this would be a great way to marry business, law and really put myself in a position to help organizations and really put in my position for my next step, whatever that was, on my journey," he said.

He started practicing and moved back to Louisville in 2007. His favorite career moment was when he helped negotiate the sale of Louisville Gas and Electric, the local utility company, from a Germany company to a Pennsylvania one in 2010.

But while he liked his job, there was still something he loved more — soccer.

He played in an adult league. Then in 2009, he took a job as head coach of the Louisville Lightning, a now-defunct semi-professional indoor soccer team.

He left the law in 2014, and later began coaching for the Kentucky Fire Juniors, the affiliated youth club of MLS' Chicago Fire. In 2017, he took a full-time position with them.

"Like everything else, there were things I enjoyed and things I didn’t," Budnick said of his time as a lawyer. "But by and large, I got to meet some really talented, bright, devoted people and got to develop a lot of long-lasting relationships. I’m glad I practiced for the years that I did.”

In the meantime, he kept up with the developments in the local soccer community, including Louisville City FC, when it began play in 2015.

After the team's initial coach, James O'Connor, left for Orlando City SC, he tuned in as the team picked his successor, John Hackworth.

Learn more about John Hackworth:Louisville City's new coach a thrill-seeker who seeks to reduce risk

When he was hired, Budnick was in Chicago for a tournament with Mike Matkovich, now an assistant coach for the Columbus Crew. Matkovich offered to put in a call to Hackworth, a mutual friend.

“I said, 'I’m local and I’ve got this background, here’s my skill set, here’s my resume, here’s my body of work. If you need any help with the lay of the land and what not, feel free to call me.' Probably within a very short of period of time, we were talking," Budnick said.

Budnick joined LouCity as a volunteer in August. He helped coach the team to its second-straight USL Cup with a win in November. During that stretch, his goalies allowed just 16 goals in 17 regular and postseason games.

He was hired full-time in January.

"The goalkeeper position is different than any other position in this sport because it’s more of a collaboration between player and coach, it’s more trying to develop strengths and limit weakness but by and large, it’s such an individual position that you have to have a good rapport," he said.

This season is sure to be harder than it was last year.

Before the season, Hackworth called goalie a concern because the team had to replace Greg Ranjitsingh, who left to join O'Connor with Orlando City SC in the offseason.

His backup, Tim Dobrowolski, is back. So is the third-stringer, Chris Hubbard, although he's injured. The team added Ben Lundt, who played with Hackworth's son at Akron. Lundt was drafted by FC Cincinnati and is on loan with Louisville.

In two games, the results have been mixed. Dobrowolski allowed four goals in a season-opening loss. Lundt made his professional debut a week ago and recorded a shutout win on the road.

Lundt, who is originally from Germany, said working with Budnick has been great. The biggest difference from other coaches, ironically, is that the running-hating Budnick "definitely gets my fitness level a little bit up," Lundt said.

"I needed a week or two to get adjusted to that but I think right now I like it," he said.

Hackworth said the starter will be handled on a game-by-game basis, but after his shutout, Lundt has "earned the right" to start the team's home opener, Saturday against Hartford City FC at Slugger Field.

"I’m not going to try to hide that from anybody," Hackworth said this week about his decision. "Certainly not going to try to hide that from these guys. One of our best attributes as a team is that we thrive on the competition on the training pitch and in the locker room.”

It's that camaraderie, competition and acceptance that Budnick says he likes most about the team. But even he admits he misses law every now and then.

He misses watching a deal go from a script of paper to closing. The negotiation with opposing counsel. And his favorite part, the writing.

But there are other things he doesn't miss, like struggling to find a work-life balance.

For now, he's focused on soccer, and his wife, Shannon, a banker, and their 4 1/2-year-old twins.

"I haven’t thought much on this to be honest because this is probably, in my opinion, the best coaching position in the entire city and I’m able to do it in my hometown," he said. "I’m happy to be here as long as they’re happy to have me.”

Justin Sayers: 502-582-4252; jsayers@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/justins.