Tom Fitzgerald resigned as UCLA men’s soccer coach Friday,
leaving the team stunned.
Fitzgerald leaves after a two-year stint at UCLA in which he won
an NCAA Championship in 2002 and two straight Pac-10
Championships.
Fitzgerald held a team meeting Thursday night, in which he told
his players he was resigning primarily for family reasons.
“Everyone was in a state of shock,” junior
midfielder Aaron Lopez said. “We had no idea this was going
to happen.”
Fitzgerald will return to Tampa, Fla., where his family resides,
and coach the University of Tampa’s men’s soccer
team.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach,” freshman
forward Damon James said. “He always knew what he was doing.
I’m more surprised he’s coaching at Tampa. I can
understand him leaving for family reasons, but to go to a Division
II school is a shock.
“The thought of him going to the MLS had crossed our
minds. That wouldn’t have surprised me.”
Fitzgerald coached at Tampa from 1987-95 and won an NCAA
Championship in 1994.
He then left to coach the MLS Columbus Crew from 1996-2001,
where he won three straight Eastern Conference titles before being
fired.
He was a real estate agent until he was hired by UCLA in the
spring of 2002.
“The decision to go back (to Florida) was something we
made before my wife and I came to California,” Fitzgerald
said. “We thought we’d come out here and do this for
quite some time but I always anticipated going back to Florida to
be with my family.”
Fitzgerald leaves behind a program he helped stabilize.
In 2001, the year before Fitzgerald arrived, the tradition-rich
Bruin program struggled to a 12-7-4 record under Todd Saldaña,
needing a win in double-overtime on the final day of the season to
secure an NCAA tournament berth.
A few months later in April of 2002, it was discovered that
Saldaña’s bachelor’s degree came from an
unaccredited school (Columbia State University). Because of the
UCLA athletic department rule stating that all head coaches must
have valid bachelor’s degrees, Saldaña was let go.
In came Fitzgerald, who turned a team that was headed in the
wrong direction into national champions.
“He was a very good motivator, a very good organizer and a
very good speaker,” Lopez said. “We’re going to
miss him a lot.”
Fitzgerald was a coach who was respected and admired by his
players, including players who weren’t even on the team
yet.
Fitzgerald’s recruiting classes were ranked No. 1 each of
the last two years by many publications.
However, despite his departure, Fitzgerald remains confident
that UCLA’s current recruiting class will stay in
Westwood.
“We have a number of verbal recruits for next year. Most
players are coming because this is UCLA and the tradition the
soccer program carries. (Assistant coaches) Jorge (Salcedo), Peter
(van de Ven) and myself were all involved in the recruitment and I
think the kids will honor their verbal commitment.”
The recruits are especially needed to fill the void left by the
departure of seven graduating seniors, five of whom are at the MLS
Draft Combine this week, indicating the high caliber of players the
incoming freshmen will have to replace.
But asking who the players on next year’s squad will be
isn’t the only question surrounding the 2004 team ““ who
will be its coach?
The last time the position was open in 2002, Fitzgerald beat out
former U.S. National Team coach Steve Sampson and current Loyola
Marymount coach and Bruin alumnus Paul Krumpe.
Krumpe has turned around the LMU program and made them an annual
NCAA tournament team.
Sampson, the U.S. National Team coach during the 1998 World Cup,
is currently under contract coaching the Costa Rican National
Team.
If the Bruins look to the MLS, as they did with Fitzgerald, two
MLS coaches were fired last season ““ the Dallas Burn’s
Mike Jeffries and the D.C. United’s Ray Hudson.
But Fitzgerald hopes one of his assistant coaches is given a
shot.
“I have a great coaching staff, and I would hope both
Jorge Salcedo and Peter van de Ven would stay and I would hope they
would be considered for the head coaching job. I think Jorge is
ready for that kind of a challenge. I can only hope that the
program continues to be strong with whoever UCLA brings
in.”
Neither Salcedo or van de Ven could be reached over the
weekend.
UCLA players and administrators will miss Fitzgerald and what he
accomplished.
“Tom has had a tremendous positive impact on our program,
both on and off the field, during his short time at UCLA,”
UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said in a statement. “He
will be tremendously missed, but we understand his reasons and
respect his feelings that his family comes first. We wish Tom and
his family great success in their future endeavors.”
The move was also tough for Fitzgerald.
“What expedited the situation was fact that the job at the
University of Tampa is open,” Fitzgerald said. “I have
a great relationship with president of the University, and the
timing was right, there’s no guarantee that in 4 or 5 years
that job will be available. It was a very difficult decision.
“Ultimately you have to put your family first,”
Fitzgerald continued. “I have a grandson who will be five in
March, and other family. I’ve seen my family twice in 16
months and at my age and their age that wasn’t good
enough.”
Now, Fitzgerald’s old team needs to focus on the future.
When the program was without a coach for a period of time two years
ago, Salcedo ran practices and workouts. He’ll be forced to
do that again.
“It was a big shock to all of us,” sophomore
midfielder Ryan Valdez said. “Guys were a little bit
disappointed. But we’re confident in whoever UCLA will pick
as the new coach. We just need to train and play like nothing
happened.”
With reports from Elizabeth Newman, Bruin Sports
Reporter.