Tyler Heaps was studying chemistry at a college in Chicago in the early 2010s, setting up a potential career in that field as his mother Paula had.

In an advanced calculus course, he enjoyed working on numerical equations, so when he transferred to Augsburg, he switched his major to computational math, with a minor in computer science.

Then how exactly did the St. Paul native become the youngest sporting director in MLS last year?

Well, the 34-year-old’s love for soccer while growing up near the Conway Rec Center on the city’s east side provided a foundation. And a key ingredient was his single mom’s desire to have all five of her children be well educated and self sufficient.

“We grew up without a lot of money, and so my mom was like, ‘You need to get a job,’ ” Heaps told the Pioneer Press this week. “I thought math would get me a job.”

Another formative piece during his college years was the release of the movie “Moneyball.” Heaps saw the biographical storytelling of how Oakland Athletics’ general manager Billy Beane used sabermetrics to overcome a small payroll and build a highly successful baseball roster.

Heaps’ profession was a pairing of his analytical skills and his passion for soccer. His current body of work, MLS expansion side San Diego FC, will come to Allianz Field to play Minnesota United on Saturday night.

“It’ll be a special one; that’s for sure,” said Heaps, who has gathered 25 tickets for family and friends. “… I’m really excited to come back home, as what I would call it, but hopefully to get three points for the good guys.”

Heaps’ playing days started with a neighborhood club before joining former Loons players and Woodbury natives Brent Kallman and Eric Miller at Bangu Tsunami FC and Minnesota Thunder Academy.

Then it was off to DeLaSalle High School and Augsburg, where he was a key defender for the Division III program. His playing days ended as a member of Minnesota United’s reserves in 2015, a role he juggled with his day job in finance and a coaching gig at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

Paula Heaps instilled that work ethic in her kids with her moonlighting jobs working concessions at the Metrodome and Williams Arena as well as newspaper delivery routes.

“I was there (in the stadiums) wrapping hot dogs; that’s how we paid our tuition to go to a Catholic school,” Heaps said, adding that the family also received significant financial aid. “And that’s actually how I paid for club soccer, as well. It was a nonprofit, so they allowed us to work there.”

The family also stayed busy at its home off of Ruth Street.“The heat barely worked, so my mom would joke, ‘Get up and do something, and you’ll stay warm,’ ” Tyler recalled. “… Now all five of us (kids) are extremely successful, which is probably the biggest credit to my mom in terms of how she instilled those values in us.”

“I know she’s proud, and she’ll be at the game in San Diego gear,” Heaps added. “Minnesota United never took a chance on me. But also I don’t hold anything against it.”

Heaps’ first full-time job was with the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2016, working in the then-nascent field of analytics and becoming director of a department.

“It just started to happen where I had knowledge that not a lot of people did, and it was all on timing, because it was such a new aspect,” he said.

Heaps worked with men’s and women’s senior team coaches, Bruce Arena and Jill Ellis, and during this period, he met his future wife, midfielder and captain Lindsey Horan.

Then, in a pinch-me moment, Heaps was hired by AS Monaco, a top team in France’s Ligue 1, to work in “sporting technology and insights.” The symbolism wasn’t lost on him: a kid from a hardscrabble area in his hometown now working in the posh tiny country perched on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

“I googled Monaco and said, ‘That looks halfway decent,’ ” he joked.

After a year with the Right to Dream Academy, Heaps was hired for his current role at San Diego FC. Upon his addition, club owner Mohamed Mansour called Heaps “one of the brightest people working in world soccer today.”

During preseason, Heaps turned heads within MNUFC’s front office and elsewhere with his comments in “BackHeeled,” an online soccer news outlet.

“I think we’re an expansion team that probably has the most in-depth style of play coming into the league,” Heaps declared in the article, adding San Diego wants to control games (a la one of MLS’ top teams, Columbus Crew) by maintaining the majority of possession in part by avoiding “duels at all costs.”

It’s been paying off. San Diego is tied with Minnesota for second place in the Western Conference; each club has 30 points at the season’s midway point.

“We’ve kind of done what we said we’re going to do,” Heaps said.

Along the way, Tyler has gotten help from Lindsey, who plans to come to Allianz Field for a second time in three weeks. The veteran central mid scored a goal in the Americans’ 3-0 friendly win over China in St. Paul on May 31. Tyler said a “massive fan club” of more than 30 family members was in the stands cheering her on.

“These world class players are very unique and so, I think, getting her perspective on things … is always really helpful for me,” Tyler said. “And I think same for her. She’s in contract negotiations (with her French club team Lyon) right now and trying to figure out what her next steps are. She’s kind of saying, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ ”

Looking ahead, Saturday will be a fascinating matchup of polar opposites. San Diego is second in MLS with 59% possession, while the Loons are dead last at 38%.

“What I’m really proud of (about Loons head coach Eric Ramsay) and that group is how committed they are to their style of play, and I think that’s what this league needs more of,” Heaps said. “It needs more clubs that have a clear strategy and stick to it. I think too often what you see is clubs lose a couple of games, then they change everything, and I think that makes this sport in this country more difficult to watch.

“If you watch the (English) Premier League, you kind of know how all those teams are going to try to play. I think if MLS can start to trend in that way, and hopefully we’re helping it trend in that way, I think it will help the entire league in terms of watchability and fan interest and everything else that comes with it.”