Coaching Carousel

[VASoccer11]

Former Ithaca head coach, Garret Eldridge Appointed as AU Men's Soccer Coach

https://gosaxons.com/news/2025/1/30/mens-soccer-garret-eldridge-appointed-as-au-mens-soccer-coach.aspx

[stlawus]

Former Ithaca head coach, Garret Eldridge Appointed as AU Men's Soccer Coach

https://gosaxons.com/news/2025/1/30/mens-soccer-garret-eldridge-appointed-as-au-mens-soccer-coach.aspx

Very odd

[Kuiper]

Former Ithaca head coach, Garret Eldridge Appointed as AU Men's Soccer Coach

https://gosaxons.com/news/2025/1/30/mens-soccer-garret-eldridge-appointed-as-au-mens-soccer-coach.aspx

Very odd

My thought too, but I don't know enough about the differences between the two schools.  Does Alfred State give better benefits than Ithaca or is it in a better location?

[stlawus]

Well it's Alfred not Alfred State, if it was Alfred State I suppose it would make sense from a benefits standpoint since it's in the SUNY system but Alfred U is a private school.  Ithaca is most assuredly the better location.  I can't imagine there's a salary difference, if any.  Alfred is a very good university, but from a soccer standpoint this is a lateral move in the most generous terms.

[Kuiper]

Tim McClements named head men's soccer coach at Trine

Assistant Vice President for Athletics Matt Land has announced that Tim McClements has been named the next head coach of the Trine University men's soccer team.

"I am excited for Tim to get to work on our program," said Land, "His decades long career is a fantastic resource for Trine men's soccer and for the university at large. I am excited for the future of our program."

"It is an honor and privilege to be named the head coach of Trine University men's soccer. I want to thank Matt Land and his staff for including me in their search," said McClements, "I am looking forward to building upon the past success of Thunder men's soccer!"

McClements brings over 30 years of coaching experience to the role. His most recent head coaching experience came at Southern Methodist University where he served as the men's head coach. During his seven-season stint with the team he compiled a 68-46-16 record and led the team to a pair of Conference USA regular season titles and one tournament title. The 2010 season saw the Mustangs reach the Elite 8 round of the NCAA tournament under his leadership. McClements was twice named "Coach of the Year" by the conference.

McClements has also served tenures as head coach at Vanderbilt University (NCAA DI), Eastern Illinois University (NCAA DI) and Baker University (NAIA). He earned coach of the year honors during his stint with Vanderbilt, from the Missouri Valley Conference, and with Baker, from the Heart of America Athletic Conference. He has also held assistant coaching positions at SMU, Midwestern State University (NAIA) and Northern Illinois University (NCAA D1) with more recent stops at Grand Canyon University and Bethel University.

McClements played collegiate for two seasons at Indiana University before finishing out his career at Wheaton College. To this day he holds the Wheaton record for most assists in a single match with five and is tied for fifth most assists in a single season (14).

[Kuiper]

Well it's Alfred not Alfred State, if it was Alfred State I suppose it would make sense from a benefits standpoint since it's in the SUNY system but Alfred U is a private school.  Ithaca is most assuredly the better location.  I can't imagine there's a salary difference, if any.  Alfred is a very good university, but from a soccer standpoint this is a lateral move in the most generous terms.

I guess I immediately assumed it was Alfred State because they have a job posted for head coach of men's soccer.

https://collegesports.jobs/jobs/alfred-state-college-head-coach-mens-soccer

[stlawus]

Everyone has their reasons.  I can't imagine it's from a competitive standpoint, it's not like he didn't have good teams at Ithaca. Got to 2 LL championship games in the last 4 years.

[Kuiper]

Mike Chwistek is apparently out after two years at Rockford because they are listing a new opening.

https://ncaamarket.ncaa.org/jobs/21023223/head-men-s-soccer-coach

[CU_GKnight]

Everyone has their reasons.  I can't imagine it's from a competitive standpoint, it's not like he didn't have good teams at Ithaca. Got to 2 LL championship games in the last 4 years.

Based on second hand knowledge from someone I trust, the rumor is that Ithaca had higher expectations than were being delivered and he was offered the opportunity to resign.  I didn't say anything earlier, but this would make sense based on him landing at Alfred.

[stlawus]

I'm not sure what those higher expectations are. One LL title since they joined the league, a handful of tournament final appearances which included 2 under Eldridge. Before joining the league they were a below. 500 team for the better part of a decade.

[Caz Bombers]

I'm not sure what those higher expectations are. One LL title since they joined the league, a handful of tournament final appearances which included 2 under Eldridge. Before joining the league they were a below. 500 team for the better part of a decade.

I think IC is finally holding men's soccer to the standard of nearly every sport in the department, perhaps most directly women's soccer, which is to win a ton and make an NCAA tournament run more often than you don't.

Figure this sport out and they'll be only men's lacrosse and m/w tennis away from basically batting 1.000.

[CU_GKnight]

I'm not sure what those higher expectations are. One LL title since they joined the league, a handful of tournament final appearances which included 2 under Eldridge. Before joining the league they were a below. 500 team for the better part of a decade.

I think IC is finally holding men's soccer to the standard of nearly every sport in the department, perhaps most directly women's soccer, which is to win a ton and make an NCAA tournament run more often than you don't.

Figure this sport out and they'll be only men's lacrosse and m/w tennis away from basically batting 1.000.

The way Caz stated it is almost verbatim the way it was said to me.  I also heard a mention of the Learfield Cup (which is for overall success in all sports based on showing in the NCAA tournaments) and not having gotten any points for mens soccer since Dezotell left.

[Kuiper]

Bruno Ferreira named men's soccer head coach of SUNY Purchase

Purchase College Athletics is excited to announce the hiring of Bruno Ferreira as the new men's soccer head coach and student-athlete mentor, it was announced Monday.

Ferreira arrives at Purchase with extensive head coaching experience, previously serving as lead dog at Berkeley College for the last 16 years.

Over the last decade and a half, he has worked for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association school, leading the program to numerous top finishes and results.

Ferreira's all-time record with the Knights is 103 wins, 74 losses and six draws. Twice in his career, he led his squad to the #2 national ranking in the USCAA, which is the organization that oversees community and junior colleges.

Additionally, he obtained four other rankings in the top #13 during his years at Berkeley, while winning the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship in 2022.

Other accomplishments achieved during his managerial run include: 20 USCAA Athletic All-Americans, 27 USCAA Academic All-Americans and three USCAA Student-Athlete's of the Year.

Fluent in three languages (English, Portuguese and Spanish), the New Jersey City University graduate has also spent time as a lead scout in North America for Futebol Clube do Porto and Porto Portugal.

As a result, Ferreira has had seven players developed by him go on to sign professional soccer contracts.

Outside of coaching, he will oversee the academic standing of all student-athletes at Purchase, including things such as weekly study hall and schedule planning.

[Kuiper]

Berea named Xavier Tomlin head coach of men's soccer

Berea College Athletics is thrilled to announce the appointment of Xavier Tomlin as the new Head Coach for the Men's Soccer program. Tomlin, a distinguished alum of the class of 2019 and former Centre College forward, brings a wealth of experience and a dynamic vision to the role following an impressive tenure with the Centre men's soccer team. During his time as a Volunteer Assistant Coach starting in the Summer of 2019, Tomlin played a pivotal role in guiding the Colonels to the most successful season in the program's history. Under his mentorship, the team achieved a remarkable 20-4-1 record, culminating in a spot in the NCAA Final Four. Their extraordinary season was marked not only by winning the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Tournament but also by notable victories against several ranked opponents, securing a final ranking of No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Tomlin's efforts contributed to several players receiving prestigious honors, including Alexander Garuba being named an All-American and Michael Vogt earning All-Region accolades, along with seven selections to the All-SAA team.

Kind of an odd press release.  They copied from his Centre bio with a few edits that made it seem he had one year as a volunteer assistant coach at Centre five years ago when he in fact has been a full asst coach since then.

[Kuiper]

This was already known, but it's now official

Matt Weiss takes over as head coach at Ohio Wesleyan

Matt Weiss has officially started as Ohio Wesleyan University's men's soccer head coach, it was announced by athletics director Doug Zipp.

Weiss takes over for Jay Martin, the winningest coach in NCAA men's soccer history, who retired as the Battling Bishops' head coach after the 2024 season.

"I'd like to thank President Matt vandenBerg, Doug Zipp, and Dr. Jay Martin for their trust and support for allowing me the opportunity to lead one of the best programs in college soccer," Weiss said.  "I've been incredibly fortunate to be a part of this program for over a decade while having a legend like Jay as my mentor.  I'm very excited to build on the pride and tradition of this historic program."

"We are very excited to have Matt as the head coach for Ohio Wesleyan men's soccer," Zipp said.  "Matt is a tireless recruiter, a seasoned strategist for game preparation and scouting, and most importantly, he lives the history, pride and tradition of OWU men's soccer.  Matt is exactly the right coach to lead our program well into the future."

Weiss has served as associate head coach at Ohio Wesleyan for the last 5 seasons and has been on the Battling Bishop coaching staff for a total of 11 seasons.

Since joining the Ohio Wesleyan staff in 2014, Weiss has been a part of 9 NCAA Division III tournament appearances, including the 2014 national semifinals; 2 North Coast Athletic Conference championships, and 2 NCAC tournament championships, while helping the Bishops compile an overall record of 134-50-27 and an overall conference record of 66-9-12.  During that time, Ohio Wesleyan players have compiled 7 All-America, 8 Academic All-America®, 30 all-region, 69 all-conference and 11 individual conference Player of the Year awards.