University of South Florida men’s soccer adds 4 to staff

TAMPA (Via University of South Florida) — Four members will join head coach Bob Butehorn‘s University of South Florida men’s soccer staff: Jeremy Hurdle and Matt Poplawski as assistant coaches, Tom Homa as director of operations and Tomas Cerda as a volunteer assistant coach.

The new staff brings a wealth of experience to South Florida, including recruiting experience, playing experience, knowledge of the Bay Area, and extensive coaching experience at the Division I level.

Jeremy Hurdle, who previously served USF as the Director of Operations, was promoted to assistant coach in 2019. Hurdle has previous coaching experience in Tampa Bay, and was recognized in 2018 when he was named the Florida Youth Soccer Association Coach of the Year as well as the U.S. Youth Soccer South Region Coach of the Year. Before coming to USF in 2017, Hurdle previously served at the University of Pennsylvania. There he earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America “30 under 30” honor, which provides year-long mentorship and education opportunities to up-and-coming coaches.

Hurdle was a four-year starter and captain for McGill University. He earned a degree in geography from McGill in 2012. He holds a U.S. Soccer “B” license and a United Soccer Coaches Advanced National Diploma.

Matt Poplawski joins USF as an assistant coach after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at Wake Forest. In his two seasons with Wake, he helped the Deacons to a combined 37-5-2 overall record, including an ACC Championship, two NCAA Tournament berths and a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In Winston-Salem, Poplawski and his colleagues earned the United Soccer Coaches South Region Staff of the Year award in 2017, and helped coach five All-Americans. He also assisted in coaching Jon Bakero, MAC Hermann Trophy winner and Senior CLASS Award winner, and CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year Kevin Politz, who both now play in Major League Soccer.

Poplawski was a dual sport student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania, participating in soccer and basketball. He earned All-Ivy League honors twice and was a two-year team captain. Poplawski holds a U.S. Soccer “D” Coaching License and graduated from Penn in 2017 with a degree in economics and a minor in psychology from the Wharton School of Business.

Tom Homa joins the staff as director of operations for USF men’s soccer. He comes to the Bulls from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, where he served as a graduate assistant with the men’s soccer team for two years, and helped the team reach the MIAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament. In addition to his responsibilities at Augsburg, he coaches two youth teams and area club BV United, and received Male Coach of the Year in 2018.

Homa studied supply chain management and marketing at Illinois, where he played on the club men’s soccer team. While in Urbana-Champaign, he assisted the women’s soccer program as a student manager.

Tomas Cerda is no stranger to Butehorn’s success as a soccer coach, having previously played and coached for Butehorn at Florida Gulf Coast University. He joins the Bulls as a volunteer assistant coach working with the goalkeepers. Cerda played for Butehorn beginning in 2011 and transitioned to a coaching role in 2013. He has experience with both FGCU men’s and women’s soccer programs, and in total, Cerda has been a part of six conference tournament championships and six regular season championships with the Eagles.

Most recently, Cerda coached at Stetson for the 2018 season, where the Hatters reached their first Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Finals in over eight years. He is credited with improving the goalkeeper group tremendously in just one season. He owns a degree in communications from FGCU.