Dec. 12, 2010
SEATTLE - After 19 years at the helm of the University of Washington's men's soccer program, Dean Wurzberger announced his resignation today. Wurzberger informed athletic director Scott Woodward of his decision over the weekend, citing family reasons for the decision. "After a recent review of my professional and personal goals and future ambitions, I have decided that I will step down from my position of head men's soccer coach," Wurzberger said. "While coaching at UW has and always will mean a great deal to me, I have to think about family first in this matter. After engaging the administration in an open dialogue about my family situation and my future professional plans, in the end I think we all came to agree that my decision to resign is in the best interest of both my family and the UW men's soccer program. I depart very proud of the soccer program I have helped build here over the past 19 years and I have also gained much in regards to developing my coaching skills and increasing my depth of experience." Wurzberger, who had been the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-10 prior to his resignation, finished with a career record of 220-112-41 with the Huskies. Under his leadership, the Huskies have reached the NCAA tournament 11 times in the last 15 years, including back-to-back second round appearances in 2006 and 2007, as well as a school-record Sweet 16 trip in 2003. UW was one of only seven schools in the country to make seven straight NCAA trips from 1995-2001. "On behalf of the University of Washington, I'd like to thank Coach Wurzberger for his dedication and commitment in guiding this program for nearly two full decades," Woodward said. "We are appreciative of the work he has done in building a program to be proud of on and off the soccer field and wish him the absolute best in his future endeavors." Wurzberger, the Huskies' first-ever full-time head coach, came to UW in 1992, after serving as an assistant at Santa Clara. "I am very grateful to many loyal and hard-working student-athletes I have had the pleasure to coach along with the many quality assistant coaches, department staff and administrators," Wurzberger said. "I want to give a special thanks to my two first-year assistant coaches who joined me this past season, for doing an excellent job of bringing the winning ways back to our program." A national search for Wurzberger's replacement will begin immediately.
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