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In seven seasons at Stanford, Bret Simon has taken teams to two consecutive College Cups, won a Pacific-10 Conference title and guided several players into the professional ranks. In short, Simon has lifted the Stanford men's soccer program to an unprecedented level of success. But that's not surprising. Now in his 20th season as a collegiate head coach, Simon has a history of winning. His career winning percentage is .648 and his 243 collegiate victories are second-most of anyone who has been a Stanford men's soccer head coach. In his 13 years in Division I, Simon has built a 160-78-31 career mark, including an impressive 15-8-2 (.620) record in NCAA postseason competition, thanks largely to four appearances in the College Cup Final Four. Simon is one of only two coaches in NCAA history to take two different programs to the NCAA College Cup, and has been named Coach of the Year in two conferences. Simon has coached 24 all-conference first-team selections, six conference players of the year, five NSCAA first-team All-Americans, two United States National Team members and a Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy winner. Thirteen of his players have advanced to Major League Soccer senior squads, including three former Stanford stars -- Todd Dunivant, Chad Marshall and Andrew Kartunen - who remain active. They are among six of Simon's former players in the league. Since arriving at Stanford in 2001, Simon has compiled a 64-52-23 overall record and his .543 winning percentage ranks fourth all-time among Stanford coaches with 50 or more victories. Simon piloted the Cardinal to College Cup appearances in his first two seasons on The Farm, including a trip to the 2002 NCAA final, the second time he has reached the championship match, following an appearance with Creighton in 2000. Prior to Simon's arrival, Stanford had reached the College Cup just once, in 1998. In 2007, Stanford proved it was back on the upswing, earning Simon his 10th winning season in 13 years. Among the highlights of the 7-6-5 campaign was a 2-1-1 record against the top Pac-10 finishers, Cal and UCLA, and a double-overtime draw with defending national champion UC Santa Barbara. During his first two seasons at Stanford, Simon had a combined record of 36-7-4, equaling the winningest two-year streak in the program's 94 years of existence. The 2002 club finished with an 17-5-3 overall record on its way to an NCAA runner-up finish. Simon, who was a semifinalist for Far West Coach of the Year, led a hot team to four straight NCAA Tournament victories and six consecutive wins overall late in the season to reach the national championship game against UCLA. In his rookie season at Stanford in 2001, Simon garnered two Coach of the Year honors when he was named the NSCAA/adidas Far West Regional Coach of the Year and Pac-10 Coach of the Year after leading the Cardinal to its first Pac-10 championship. Simon guided Stanford to its best overall record ever (19-2-1) as the club advanced to its second College Cup in program history and made its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Simon achieved his milestone 100th career Division I win in his first season with the Cardinal, a 3-1 triumph over Cal State Fullerton on September 9, 2001. Before coming to Stanford, Simon led Creighton to the 2000 NCAA final, completing an eight-year run in Omaha, the final six as head coach. His .769 winning percentage (96-26-8) remains the best in school history. His final Bluejay team finished 22-4 and remains the program's most successful. The team's appearance in the NCAA final was the first by any Creighton athletic squad. A four-time conference Coach of the Year honoree, Simon led the Bluejays to four postseason Missouri Valley Conference tournament championships, a pair of MVC regular-season titles and six NCAA Tournament appearances. Simon's 96 wins at the school ranks second on the Bluejays' all time list. Among the players Simon coached from 1995-2000 at Creighton were future U.S. National Team players Richard Mulrooney and Brian Mullan, 1997 Hermann Trophy winner Johnny Torres, and two-time MLS All-Star Ross Paule. Each of his Creighton teams reached the NCAA Tournament, giving Simon eight NCAA appearances in the past 13 seasons at both schools. A 1980 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Simon earned his Master's degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and management from Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga., in 1982. During a 13-year tenure at Berry, Simon was involved in numerous aspects of the athletic department including coaching, teaching, publicity and as the Vikings' athletic director. After six seasons as a Berry assistant, Simon compiled an 83-43-16 record as head coach of the NAIA school from 1986-92. Simon, who was born on June 19, 1958, is married to the former Pam Gradoville, a Creighton Athletic Hall of Fame basketball player. They have two sons, Benjamin and Jacob. | |||||||||||||||||
