| Brooks Monaghan |
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With eight seasons under his belt, Monaghan has taken the University of Memphis women's soccer program to new heights. The 2007 soccer season is one that will go down in the record books and will always be the season to remember. His squad broke 18 team and 14 individual school records last year, while earning the team's first conference championship title. The records do not include the six they broke or tied at the Conference USA Championship. The 2007 team is only the third team in C-USA history to shutout every opponent in the championship and win the entire tournament.
Monaghan has proven himself as the most successful coach in the program's history as he was named C-USA Coach of the Year. He posted a school best 17-4-1 record and a winning percentage of .795, moving his career record to 79-69-9 (.532). Memphis has now posted four-straight years of consecutive winning records.
Last season, the Tigers went 9-1-0 at home and went on a seven-game win streak. Enduring a tough out of conference schedule, Memphis went 4-1 against the SEC West beating hard competitors like Arkansas and Alabama on the road, and Ole Miss and Mississippi State at home. Memphis ended the year battling UNC Greensboro in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
"We're ecstatic to have been a part of the 2007 NCAA Tournament," Monaghan said. "It's a terrific outcome of the hard work that we have put forth over the past years. It proves that hard work does pay off and shows how far we have come over time."
Monaghan has coached 16 C-USA All-Conference winners, two C-USA Freshman of the Year, one C-USA Offensive MVP and one C-USA Newcomer of the Year in his tenure as a head coach at Memphis. In 2007, Vendula Strnadova was named C-USA Freshman of the Year, the first Memphis player to earn the award since Jessica Gjertsen in Monaghan's first year as head coach.
After a phenomenal season in 2007, Monaghan received numerous coaching honors. He was honored by Conference USA as the Women's Soccer Coach of the Year and was also named Soccer Buzz Central Region Coach of the Year.
Monaghan took the reins of the program in 2000 after serving for five years as an assistant coach for his predecessor, Les Szabo. Despite taking over a difficult situation, Monaghan has been able to turn the Lady Tiger soccer program into a success. In 2005, Monaghan became the longest tenured women's soccer coach in school history. Just the program's second coach, Monaghan surpassed Szabo in 2004 as Memphis' all-time winningest coach with his 35th career win.
The Lady Tiger program has also flourished off the field during Monaghan's tenure. The women's soccer team earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) College Team Academic Award for the 2006-07 academic year. Since 2000, the team has never posted a composite grade-point average below 3.0. In the spring of 2008, 24 players finished the semester with a GPA above 3.0, earning C-USA Commissioners Honor Roll accolades. Four players posted a perfect 4.0. Five Lady Tigers were also C-USA Academic Medal winners, posting a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher for the 2007-08 school year.
"The most important thing we can do as coaches is try to prepare young people for success later in life," Monaghan said. "Soccer is important to me, and I want to win. However, the foundation of our program is the student-athlete."
When Monaghan took over the team, he was already familiar with the demands of running a successful college soccer program, having enjoyed tremendous success during his playing career at Memphis. The former goalkeeper still holds school records for single-season shutouts (11) and career shutouts (24). He is third behind Lady Tiger assistant coach Sebastian Vecchio in career goals-against average (1.40) and second in single-season goals-against average (0.80). His 298 career saves rank second all-time. He was named first team All-Great Midwest Conference in 1992 after helping lead the Tigers to a share of a conference title. In 1993, he was the Defensive MVP of the league's championship game, helping the Tigers to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. His 38 wins at goalkeeper still stand as the school record.
"To be a part of Memphis from so many different angles - first as a player, then as an assistant and now as a head coach - has been wonderful," Monaghan said. "I grew up here, and I've always loved the city and the school. Now I get to be a part of building a winning program at my alma mater, and that's a dream come true."
A former prep standout at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Monaghan's collegiate play helped earn him a spot on the U.S. U-20 National Squad. Monaghan also played professionally, spending two seasons with the New Orleans Gamblers from 1995-96 and one with the Memphis Express in 2002.
A Memphis native, Monaghan received a bachelor's degree in business management from Memphis in 1994. He is single and resides in Memphis.
