Mercer University Men's Soccer

Ruzzo has led the Bears to a 67-59-12 overall record and a 34-23-5 mark in conference play. Ruzzo has earned coach of the year honors twice in the past four seasons 2012 (Atlantic Sun) and 2014 (Southern Conference). YEAR-BY-YEAR AT MERCER COACHING AWARDS BEFORE MERCER Before coming to Mercer, Ruzzo spent eight seasons as the associate head coach at Bradley University. During that time, the Braves earned four NCAA Tournament bids, captured three Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles and won the State Farm MVC Tournament in 2007. The 2007 team enjoyed the best postseason run in the programs history, making it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Mens Soccer Championship. In 2003, Ruzzo was named one of the nations top assistant coaches by College Soccer News. From 2000-2007, Bradley also produced eight All-Americans, six Major League Soccer Super Draft selections, 37 All-MVC selections,two MVC Defensive Players of the Year, two MVC Freshmen of the Year and one MVC Player of the Year. During that time, Ruzzo also assisted Bradley in developing eight ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and NSCAA Scholar All-Americans, 11 CoSIDA District V and NSCAA Region Scholar-Athletes and 25 Valley Scholar Athletes. Prior to joining the staff at Bradley, Ruzzo starred at the University of Cincinnati, where he was a four-year letter-winner as a defenseman for the Bearcats. He started 77 games from 1995 to 1998 and earned a second-team All-Conference USA selection in 1998 .As a senior, he served as the team captain, was chosen team MVP and led Cincinnati to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. In 1998, he helped the Bearcat defense pitch six shutouts and held opponents to a 0.89 goals-against average. Brad Ruzzo at a Glance EDUCATION University of Cincinnati, 1999 B.A., Economics  PLAYING EXPERIENCE 1995-98 University of Cincinnati 2nd Team All-Conference USA, 98 1998 NCAA Tournament Appearance  COACHING EXPERIENCE 2008-Present Mercer University Head Coach  2000-07 Bradley University Associate Head Coach  1999-00 Xavier University Assistant Coach  2008-Present Mercer Boys Soccer Academy Founder and Director  2011-13 Olympic Development Program Georgia state head coach 2010 Olympic Development Program Region III staff member  2000-07 Central Illinois Soccer Academy Co-Director Brad Ruzzo at a Glance