Feb. 11, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt women’s soccer head coach Ronnie Woodard has announced the addition of Southeastern Conference coaching veteran Derek Greene to the Vanderbilt soccer program as an assistant coach.
Greene joins the Commodores after a one-year stop at Belmont where he helped guide the Bruins to the Atlantic Sun tournament finals and the regular season co-championship.
Prior to coaching at Belmont, Greene was the associate head coach at Ole Miss where he helped guide the Rebels to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a second-round appearance in 2003. In addition, Ole Miss captured the 2005 SEC Western Division title while finishing second overall in the conference during the regular season. In 2005-06, Ole Miss had a 15-game SEC regular season unbeaten streak, ranking as the second longest unbeaten streak in conference play at that time.
While in Oxford, Greene recruited six SEC All-Freshman Team selections, one SEC Freshman of the Year and four freshman All-Americans. In his seven years at Ole Miss, the Rebels posted the fourth highest winning percentage in league play over that span.
Prior to his stint with the Rebels, Greene served as the head coach at Division II Carson-Newman for four years.
During his tenure at Carson-Newman, Greene took the Lady Eagles to new heights. In 2000, CNC closed out the regular season in fourth place in the South Atlantic Conference, the highest regular season finish in the program’s history. In the first round of the SAC tournament, the Lady Eagles defeated nationally ranked Wingate to advance to the semifinals for the first time ever. Greene produced 14 All-Conference selections and 21 Academic Honor Roll recipients at Carson-Newman.
“We are very excited to welcome Derek Greene to our staff, he has a long history in coaching in NCAA soccer and he has experienced success at every level he has participated in,” Woodard said. “His passion lies in the development of players within the game, and he will also recruit and bring in players that will help continue to build this program.”
Over the last 17 years, Greene has worked with the Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama Olympic Development Programs, as well as serving on the Region III ODP staff more recently.
Greene coached on the Tennessee staff during the 1996-97 season. While still an undergraduate, he was the volunteer assistant for the Lady Vols in the program’s first year of NCAA competition.
The Knoxville, Tenn., native began his coaching career in 1992 with the Knoxville Stars Soccer Club. He went on to lead the Diadora Impact Soccer Club to three state championships and one Region III semifinals. He has also served as an instructor at the UNC girls’ soccer camp as well as Clemson’s camp in past years.
A member of the men’s soccer club team while at UT, Greene later spent time playing semi-pro as a member of the USISL’s Chattanooga Express.
Greene holds his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma and has served as an instructor in
Tennessee on behalf of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
The Knoxville native, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from UT in 1996, married the former Gail Baumhardt on Aug. 2, 2008 in Oxford.
Greene is looking forward to the opportunity of working with coach Woodard and returning to coaching in one of the nation’s top soccer conferences.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to work with Ronnie, whom I have known for a long time,” Greene said. “It’s great to be back in the SEC and I think the potential for this program is limitless. I think we have opportunities here to recruit the brightest academic student-athletes in the country as well as soccer players. Our goal is to take this team back to the NCAA Tournament and to do it quickly.”