BUFFALO, N.Y. – Men's soccer head coach, Brendan Murphy, has announced that he will step down from his current position at D'Youville University.
Murphy was with the Saints' soccer program for nine seasons, taking over the program in January 2013 and helping bring them to NCAA Division II competition. Having brought a long resume of coaching and playing experience to the Queen City, Murphy was the fifth men's soccer coach at D'Youville since the program's inception in 1999.
Murphy's second season with D'Youville saw the program's first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoff appearance in program history. His efforts at the helm of the program turned the team around from an 0-18 season in his first year to a 4-11-2 recording, including a four-game unbeaten streak which helped push DYU into the sixth seed for the AMCC playoffs. His success in 2014 earned him AMCC Coach of the Year and Upper 90 Magazine WNY Coach of the Year honors. Under Murphy's tenure, the program went to the AMCC playoffs three times, including back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018.
Murphy was a crucial ingredient to the team's transition to NCAA Division II and East Coast Conference play. The Saints got a taste of life at the NCAA Division II level in the spring of 2021; competing against Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan in the shortened season. Murphy helped D'Youville to six NCAA Division II wins in the past two years. The Saints also had an impressive 0-0 tie against ECC member Roberts Wesleyan last season on the road.
Under Murphy's direction, the Saints have had numerous ECC Weekly Honors. Felipe Santos and Nick Dumond were named to the ECC Weekly Honor Roll in the 2021 season, while Ethan Picard and Dumond picked up Rookie of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week honors, respectively. This past season, Picard was named United States Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Division I Goalie of the Week three times for his efforts between the pipes.
A national search will begin immediately for D'Youville University's next head men's soccer coach.
