Alabama head coach Todd Bramble hired to lead George Mason women’s soccer
Fairfax, Va. (Via George Mason University) — George Mason Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics Brad Edwards announced veteran NCAA Division I Head Coach Todd Bramble as the fourth head women’s soccer coach in the program’s history. Bramble spent the past seven seasons as the head coach for the SEC’s Alabama Crimson Tide.
“To say we are fortunate to be joined by someone of Todd Bramble’s caliber is an understatement,” said Edwards. “Todd’s record speaks for itself. He has had extraordinary results at the highest level collegiately and we believe he is absolutely the right person to lead this program back to its historic level.”
Todd Bramble joins George Mason after finishing the 2014 season at Alabama with a 10-7-3 record, his 14th season overall as a head coach. He spent the previous seven years at Clemson University (2001-07) prior to joining the Tide. He owns a career record of 137-116-30 in his 14 years as a head coach for NCAA DI women’s soccer and has eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including two NCAA round of 16.
“I would like to thank Brad Edwards and the search committee for giving me the opportunity to lead the women’s soccer program at George Mason,” said Bramble. “This is both a university and an athletic department with enormous positive energy, momentum and potential. My family and I are excited to move to the area and immerse ourselves in the community. I can’t wait to meet the team and get started.”
The Atlanta, Ga., native led Alabama to an appearance in the 2011 NCAA Tournament – its first NCAA tournament berth since 1998 and the second in program history. He also guided the Tide to its first winning record (10-9-3) since 2003.
In his first season at the helm of the Crimson Tide in 2008, Bramble immediately made his mark, leading Alabama to a 9-9-2 overall record and a 4-6-1 mark in SEC play. The four league wins were the most by any Alabama team since 2004 and the Tide earned its first appearance to the SEC Tournament since 2004.
Alabama was able to accomplish some program firsts during his tenure, including the first-ever victory over nationally-ranked Florida, which came in 2012, as well as downing three ranked opponents in one season for the first time in program history in 2011.
He also coached the program’s first-ever SEC Freshman of the Year, Merel Van Dongen who earned the honor in 2012. In addition, Van Dongen was named to the 2012 NSCAA All-South Region Second Team, TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Freshman Team of the Season.
Bramble has now coached 16 All-SEC performers, including three in 2014, 2011 and 2010 – the most in one season in program history. Furthermore, he has had at least one player earn all-region honors in four consecutive years, which matches the longest streak in program lore.
During his seven seasons at the helm of the Crimson Tide program, Bramble has produced three Academic All-Americans, including two this past season, making Alabama the only school in the nation with two players on the first and second CoSIDA Academic All-American squads in 2014. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) named the Crimson Tide to its College Team Academic Award list for an unprecedented sixth straight year in 2014.
During Bramble’s tenure at Clemson, he took the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament every season, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals once and the NCAA round of 16 twice. His teams finished in the top 25 nationally five times and placed in the top three in the Atlantic Coast Conference three times. The Tigers had 18 wins over top-25 teams at Clemson, including top-five wins on the road in 2004 at fourth-ranked Texas and fifth-ranked Texas A&M. Bramble had an 80-51-17 overall record with no losing seasons at Clemson.
Clemson teams during the Bramble era had an equally impressive record in the classroom, posting a 3.0 or better cumulative team grade-point average all 13 semesters that he led the team and a 3.25 or better team GPA for seven consecutive semesters. Seven NSCAA All-Academic selections played under Bramble.
Bramble served as the top assistant under Clemson head men’s soccer coach Trevor Adair from 1995-99. The Tigers had three top-12 seasons while reaching the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals twice and the round of 16 three times in those five seasons. The 1998 team finished with a 22-2 overall record and a No. 1 final regular-season national ranking, also winning the ACC Championship that season.
Bramble also has coached at the international level, as an assistant coach for the United States Under-17 National Team that competed in the 1999 U-17 World Championships.
Bramble received a degree in business management from Mercer University in Macon, Ga., in 1995. He was an all-conference goalkeeper at Mercer before spending one year in the National Professional Soccer League with the Memphis Rogues (1989-90).
Bramble is married to the former Cindy Rivard. The couple has two children: son Cole and daughter Morgan.
Follow Coach Bramble on Twitter: @Toddbramble
Todd Bramble Coaching Experience
Assistant Men’s Coach at Brown from 1991-94
Assistant Men’s Coach at Clemson from 1995-99
Head Men’s Coach at Butler in 2000
Head Women’s Coach at Clemson from 2001-2007
Head Women’s Coach at Alabama from 2008-2014
