Indiana University Athletics
Indiana's Yeagley Named Head Coach at Wisconsin
12/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 18, 2008
MADISON, Wis. - Todd Yeagley, a former national player of the year who also won two NCAA championships as an assistant coach, has been named head coach of the University of Wisconsin men's soccer program.
Yeagley, 36, heads to Madison following a six-year stint as assistant coach at Indiana University, his alma mater. He becomes the fifth head coach in the history of the UW program.
"The University of Wisconsin has made a good hire by securing Todd Yeagley as their head men's soccer coach," said Indiana head coach Mike Freitag. "Todd has bee an integral part of IU Soccer since his birth. He went from being the coach's son to an All-American player to one of the finest assistant coaches in the country. It is now his time to shine as a head coach. We will miss him, but we know that this is what Todd wanted and we wish him the best with the Badgers. Wisconsin, the Big Ten, and college soccer will benefit from Todd being hired as their head coach. He is very good young coach and a class act."
The move to the head coaching ranks is a natural one for Yeagley, who has found success at each of his stops in both the college and professional games over the past 17 years.
"I would like to thank the entire Indiana soccer family for preparing me for this wonderful opportunity," Yeagley said. "I look forward to utilizing my experience as a player and coach to develop individuals and teams of championship caliber at the University of Wisconsin."
Returning to Bloomington in 2003 following a seven-year professional playing career, Yeagley did his part to continue the legacy established at Indiana by his father, Jerry Yeagley, the winningest men's soccer coach in NCAA Division I history and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Yeagley served as a volunteer assistant coach for his father's 31st and final season as coach in 2003 and served as a full-time assistant under Freitag beginning in 2004. This season, College Soccer News named Yeagley one of the top 12 assistant coaches in the nation.
The Hoosiers won back-to-back NCAA championships in Yeagley's first two years on the bench, going a combined 36-7-6 over the course of the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Yeagley helped IU to Big Ten Conference tournament championships in both 2003 and 2006, with the team most recently advancing to the title match of the 2008 league tournament. The Hoosiers also won the Big Ten regular-season title four times (2003, 04, 06, 07) and qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of Yeagley's six seasons as an assistant.
In five years as a full-time assistant, Yeagley coached nine NSCAA/adidas All-Americans and had nine players drafted by Major League Soccer clubs, including 2004 Hermann Trophy award winner Danny O'Rourke.
In all, the Hoosiers advanced to the NCAA tournament in each of Yeagley's 10 seasons as a player or assistant coach. They also won five Big Ten tournament titles and six regular-season league crowns while amassing a total record of 166-40-30 (.767) during his time at IU.
Before his coaching career began in 2003, Yeagley enjoyed a seven-year run as a player with the Columbus Crew of MLS. He was selected by the Crew in the inaugural MLS SuperDraft in 1996 and went on to play in 138 games, making 113 starts.
Columbus advanced to the MLS Playoffs in five of Yeagley's seven seasons with the team and won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2002.
Following the conclusion of his playing career, Yeagley joined the Crew's front office as the team's assistant general manager.
A four-time All-American, Yeagley led the Hoosiers to three Big Ten titles (1991, 92, 94) and a 75-9-5 overall record during his four seasons as a player.
As a freshman in 1991, Yeagley earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and was part of the Hoosiers' run to the inaugural Big Ten tournament title and a berth in the NCAA championship game. He earned second-team All-America honors after scoring a conference-leading 12 goals and adding 11 assists.
Yeagley led IU back to the NCAA title match as a senior in 1994, the same season he earned the Missouri Athletic Club National Player of the Year award after tallying 10 goals and 11 assists.
He remains third on IU's career assists list, with 40 for his career, and shares the Big Ten single-season assists record with the 14 he recorded in 1993.
Yeagley earned a bachelor of science degree in sociology from Indiana in 2002. He and his wife, Suzy, have three children: Ben (8), Grant (6) and Jay (3).
Release courtesy of Wisconsin Sports Information office
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