Three-time coach of the year has led teams to six conference titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances since 2010
TAMPA, DEC. 18, 2016 – USF Director of Athletics Mark Harlan announced Sunday the appointment of Bob Butehorn as head coach the USF men's soccer program.
A member of the University of Tampa's 1981 national championship team and a three-time conference coach of the year, Butehorn previously led Florida Gulf Coast University's men's soccer program to six conference regular season championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances and Top 25 rankings in five seasons since 2010.
“Bob Butehorn has been tremendously successful winning, recruiting and developing student-athletes in the state of Florida, and we couldn't be more excited to welcome him back to Tampa as the new leader of our men's soccer program,” Harlan said. “We welcome Bob, his wife, Cindy, and his daughters, Madison and Jessica, to the Bulls Family. It is an exciting time for men's soccer at USF and we anticipate great things to come with Bob as our head coach.”
Butehorn has over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 10 seasons (2007-16) as head coach at FGCU where he built program from the ground up. Hired a year prior to the program's inaugural season in 2007, Butehorn guided the Eagles to a 95-62-23 record in 10 seasons, including a dominant 52-18-7 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). Under his direction, FGCU spent parts of five seasons in the national rankings, climbing as high as No. 11 in the country in the official NSCAA poll during the 2016 regular season.
“I want to thank Mark Harlan and USF Athletics leadership, Mrs. Corbett and the entire selection committee for the opportunity to lead the USF men's soccer program,” Butehorn said. “I share their passion for the program and excitement for the future of USF soccer. I'm honored by their selection and look forward to getting started.”
FGCU was a rising program in the South Region under Butehorn, who led the Eagles to an unprecedented six-straight ASUN Conference regular-season championships from 2010-15 and four NCAA Tournament appearances in only six years of eligibility. The Eagles went 40-5-5 in ASUN regular season games since 2010 and he coached 63 ASUN All-Conference selections at FGCU.
Butehorn was named ASUN Coach of the Year three times (2009, 2011 and 2015) and the NSCAA Region Coach of the Year in 2012. In 2015, FGCU players were named ASUN Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year. FGCU players also excelled in the classroom earning 49 ASUN All-Academic honors and Butehorn's teams received six NSCAA Team Academic Awards.
Prior to FGCU, Butehorn spent five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania and prior to that was the head coach at Atlantic 10 member St. Bonaventure University from 1995-99. Taking over a program that had won just two games the season prior to his arrival, Butehorn led the Bonnies to school record 12 wins (12-6) in 1997.
Butehorn also served as an assistant coach for the University of Maryland, where he was an integral part of the turnaround of a program that eventually advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1994. He also coached numerous amateur players from the East Region as the Region I Festival Coach for the U.S. Soccer Federation (1996-98), leading the East squad to two gold medals and seeing 12 of his players eventually join Major League Soccer teams.
Butehorn graduated from the University of Tampa in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in sports science/physical education. He was a member of the UT soccer team that won the 1981 NCAA National Soccer Championship. He went on to earn a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 competing at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls' athletic program celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, having started with a men's soccer contest in 1965. Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the Tampa campus. The Bulls have claimed nine conference titles, so far, in four seasons in The American. Nine USF programs reached NCAA post-season competition in the 2015-16 season. USF posted a program-record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate among student-athletes in 2016, with 214 earning conference all-academic recognition. (As of 11.10.16)
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