ERWIN RETURNS TO SMU TO COACH WOMEN'S SOCCER

[PonyPride]

Erwin Returns To The Hilltop To Lead SMU Women's Soccer Program
Former UCF Head Coach & SMU Assistant Returns To Dallas
Jan. 30, 2007

DALLAS (SMU) - Former SMU men's assistant and UCF head men's coach Brent Erwin has been named the head coach of the SMU women's soccer program, Director of Athletics Steve Orsini announced today. Erwin becomes the fifth head coach for the Mustangs since the program's inception in 1986.


Erwin returns to the Hilltop after two seasons as the head coach of the UCF men's soccer program, which followed a six-year stint as the top assistant for SMU's nationally-prominent men's soccer program.

"Brent was an ideal candidate for this position," said Orsini. "He has extensive ties to the area and to SMU. Having hired Brent when I was at Central Florida, I knew that he was well-equipped to lead a program and his success there only reinforced those thoughts. He understands our goal of being a top-25 program and I am convinced he will keep our program at that championship-level and help us continue our march up the national rankings."

"I'm so excited to be back at SMU," said Erwin. "It's a dream come true for me and my family to be back at this wonderful university. I'd like to thank Steve Orsini for giving me the opportunity to come back. I'm really looking forward to working with this team."

"We have a rich tradition here at SMU. We've been to the College Cup and have numerous conference championships. We've done some things no other schools in Texas have been able to do. We will build on that and we will keep it going in the right direction."

In his two seasons at UCF, the Knights' soccer team went a combined 13-17-3, 5-9-3 in Conference USA play, and was an impressive 10-4-3 at home. In 2006, UCF made its first appearance in the Conference USA Championship and defeated No. 17 Memphis and tied top-ranked SMU during the season.

Erwin went to UCF from SMU, where he spent six years as an assistant coach. During that time, the Mustangs compiled an 86-19-7 record and earned six NCAA Tournament berths. After advancing to the NCAA Final Four in 2000, the team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for 14 straight weeks and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2001. During his tenure, Erwin's recruiting classes were consistently ranked among the nation's top five. He aided in the development of seven All-Americans and 20 All-Conference honorees as well as 2001 Hermann Award winner Luchi Gonzalez.

During the summer of 2001, Erwin was invited to Sao Paulo, Brazil by the Santos Futebol Club, Pele's club and a two-time World Club Champion. At Santos, he worked with all of the teams from Under-12 through Under-23 and observed the training of the professional squad.

Prior to his time under Schellas Hyndman, Erwin served as assistant coach at Bradenton IMG Soccer Academy. He has also worked with the Under-17 Men's National Team and the Region 3 Olympic Development Program.

Prior to his coaching career, Erwin was a three-year starter at TCU, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in general studies. After exhausting his final year of eligibility, he spent the summer of 1997 training with Leeds United of the English Premier League then trained with the Dallas Burn organization, playing with their minor league team the Texas Toros for two seasons.

Erwin holds a U.S. Soccer Federation "A" Coaching License. He and his wife, Angie, have a son, Ben.

The SMU women's soccer team is coming off a 17-5-1 season and has won seven straight regular-season conference titles. The Mustangs tied for 24th in the final SoccerTimes.com poll and received an at-large bid into the 2006 NCAA Tournament, marking their sixth-straight NCAA Tourney appearance.

Erwin replaces John Cossaboon, who resigned at the end of December to take a position with the Gonzaga women's soccer program.

[smupony94]

Perfect

[mustangbill67]

Here's hoping the transition from men's soccer to women's is very successful. I would think this will not be difficult for Brent based on his overall experience.

[Beavr10]

Heck of a job bringing Erwin back - hope he turns this place into a soccer factory!

[smupony94]

Heck of a job bringing Erwin back - hope he turns this place into a soccer factory!

Can you imagine the men's and women's programs going far into the post-season each year?

[PonyPride]

Sure - it's been done before, and it will be done again!

[Oldkeeper]

I'll be talking to him tomorrow. Any questions you'd like answered?

[mustangbill67]

I'll be talking to him tomorrow. Any questions you'd like answered?

See if he will comment about whether Stewart Brown will continue in his assistant position, how the 2007 recrutiing class is shaping up, will the women have a spring season and if he sees any real differences in coaching women as opposed to men.

[Oldkeeper]

I talked to him about Stewart already. He said there is a decent chance that he'll stay on but he needs to sit and talk with him. They are good friends. They are both GK's and Brent said that there will be a GK coach on staff other than himself but he'll be hands on. I quote, "everywhere I've coached the GK have either been on the national team or played professionally." I think he expects the most from the keepers.

I'll follow up with the other questions but I'm sure there will be a Spring season. After next Wednesday he can talk about the recruits (signing day) I know of 5, 4 are listed on soccerbuzz.com.

[mustangbill67]

I had already posted

Laura Landry, M/D, CA Tesoro HS, Southern Cal Blues

Kristin Medeiros, M/D, Highlands Ranch CO Highlands Ranch HS, Real Colorado

Lauren Shepard, M, TX Solar

The latest commit is Meagan Boyle, K, Louisville, KY, Sacred Heart Academy, Javanon.

I do not know the 5th.

[Oldkeeper]

I don't know the 5th but I've been told she is from Oklahoma.

[Oldkeeper]

Brent Erwin is driven to succeed. Or at least he convinced me. Regarding his coaching women vs. men..he started coaching women and was actually the assistant for both the men's and women's teams at SMU. When they decided to hire a full time assistant for both teams he had his choice of which to go with. Since the men's team just came off a final 4 appearance and #1 ranking he chose them. He has also coached women's teams on the national and ODP level.

He said that he will get two full time assistants this year and though there is a very good chance Stewart Brown will still be there he would not comment on that until his discussions with him are over.

He has already started the winter workouts with the team and is very pleased with their effort and commitment so far. There will be a spring season as usual.

[mustangbill67]

Looks like Stewart Brown is gone as he is no longer listed as a women's soccer coach. I guess Erwin will bring on two new coaches. Hopefully at least one with solid metroplex soccer credentials.

[Oldkeeper]

He is looking to bring in two assistants, one of which will be a goalkeeper coach. No idea on the timeline but the Spring season is about to start and I'm sure he'd like the help with training.

[PernuaPosse]

He's bringing in the asst. at the beginning of next week for a trial and plans to hopefully have made a decision by the end of the week. He's going to hire 2, a goalkeeper coach and a female asst. No word on who the canidates are.