Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Tom O'Connor announced today that Greg Andrulis has accepted the position of head coach of the men's soccer team at George Mason becoming the ninth coach in the 37-year history. He replaces Fran O'Leary, who resigned on August 10.
"Greg was the top candidate we immediately sought when the position opened up. His experience and success at both the collegiate and professional levels were unmatched," said O'Connor. "His 24 years experience coaching soccer, along with his achieving the highest award for a coach, earning Coach of the Year honors in the MLS, are impressive to say the least. He is the person who is most qualified to continue the great soccer tradition at Mason. Our student-athletes and our alumni should be thrilled that he will join the list of many great coaches in our school's history."
Andrulis comes to Mason with a combined 24 years of collegiate and Major League Soccer coaching experience. He was MLS Coach of the Year in 2004, but recently relieved of his coaching duties on July 12th after spending nine seasons with the Columbus Crew. The team was 49-43-32 in his four plus seasons with the Crew and 2-4-3 in the playoffs, but the team got off to a 4-10-2 start in 2005.
"I am thrilled to be named head coach at George Mason University, a school with a tremendous tradition, both athletically and academically," said Andrulis. "My sincerest appreciation to the administration for their confidence in me and their support in this process. I look forward to coaching and teaching the student-athletes and building upon that fine tradition that our valued alumni have laid before us."
Andrulis joined the Crew in MLS's inuagural season in 1996 as an assistant to Tom Fitzgerald and was named interim coach midway though the 2001 season, after Fitzgerald was fired. He was given the job full-time proceeding the season after guiding the Crew to a 12-4-4 record in the remaining games in 2001.
Andrulis earned his first-ever MLS Coach of the Year award in 2004. He guided the Crew to the top of the Eastern Conference standings and garnered the Crew their first ever Supporters Shield in 2004, which is awarded annually to the team with the most points in either conference. The Crew's 49 points is also the highest regular season point total in team history. The team started the year poorly, but Andrulis took the Crew on a league-record 18-game streak without a loss, and a 12-win season against only five losses. The loss total was the lowest number in the league and team history and the 12 wins also marked the second highest total in the MLS that year behind Kansas City's 14.
In 2003, the Crew advanced to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and was the talk of MLS in bolting to a 3-0-1 start in league play. But with key injuries to four of the teams' top performers, the team missed the playoffs with a 10-12-8 record. The Crew went 7-4-5 with those key starters, but was 3-8-3 with any of them missing. The Crew missed the playoffs for just the second time in club history.
In 2002, Andrulis led the club to its first title, the US Open Cup on October 24. The Crew defeated the newly crowned MLS Cup-champion L.A. Galaxy, 1-0, in the U.S. Open Cup final at Crew Stadium, to claim the prestigious piece of hardware. The U.S. Open Cup is the oldest soccer tournament in America.
Prior to joining Columbus, he was the head coach of Wright State University from 1985 to 1996. He posted a 12-year record of 134-72-28. His best season came in 1988 when he led the Raiders to a 16-4-2 mark. Starting Mid-Continent league play in 1991, he went 24-18-5 against conference foes. During his tenure, he coached two All-Americans, 21 All-Mideast selections, 28 All-Ohio players and two recipients of the Carl Dale Memorial Award given to the top Ohio players at their positions. All-Americans Hylton Dayes and Rob Campbell have both been inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame; Dayes in 1991 and Campbell in 1999. Andrulis was inducted into the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame May 28, 2002, becoming the Hall's 37th member.
The Litchfield, Conn., native earned his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology in 1980 from Eastern Connecticut State University. After spending a year as an assistant coach at his alma mater, he moved to Springfield College in Massachusetts where he coached the junior varsity and freshman teams while earning a master's degree in counseling. He then spent three years as an assistant coach at Clemson University where he helped the Tigers win the NCAA Championship in 1985.
