Michigan Today - February 2008

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February 2008 | Home

U-M HERITAGE »

How to date women – 1943

U-M Heritage

In 1943 the world was on fire. The campus, too, burned with change — while a little booklet taught students the genteel manners of courtship.

Most emailed stories

TALKING ABOUT WORDS »

The hip hooray and ballyhoo

Talking about words

READ THIS! It's the Greatest Column Ever Written in the History of the World!!

Talking about science

We pay taxes to study worms?

c elegans

Our tax dollars fund much of the medical research in this country. Should we require that research to focus exclusively on finding life - saving drugs?

TALKING ABOUT MOVIES »

40 years of violence and revolution

Al Capone as Michael Corleone

The golden age of 1960s and early '70s cinema launched an era of bloody, cynical, and nihilistic moviemaking that's still with us today.

Faculty at Work

David Potter: Do as the Romans did?

Professor David Potter

Classics Professor David Potter teaches students about sports in ancient Rome, and how to think like a historian.

Video

Birds, bats, bugs and engineers (video)

hummingbird

The world's fastest, most agile and powerful aircraft look puny compared to the abilities of hummingbirds and pigeons. U-M researchers are unlocking the deepest secrets of flight.

SPORTS

Former head coach of USA soccer team comes to Michigan

February 1, 2008

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New U-M women's soccer coach Greg Ryan

New U-M women's soccer coach Greg Ryan

Greg Ryan, the former U.S. Women's National Team coach, has accepted the position of head coach for the University of Michigan women's soccer team. He becomes just the second head coach in the program's 14-year history.

"I think it is a program that has a great upside," Ryan said. "It's a program that could develop into, certainly, one of the top teams in the Big Ten and potentially one of the top teams in the country and so I am excited by the challenge of coming to Michigan. Obviously, the reputation of the school and the athletic department—when you think of Michigan, you think of a university that is first class in every way—were all things that drew me to Ann Arbor."

Ryan comes to Michigan after leading the U.S. Women's National Team to a 45-1-9 record in three years. He earned a bronze medal at the 2007 FIFA World Cup and won the 2005 Algarve Cup championship, knocking off Germany, the top-ranked team in the FIFA Women's World Rankings, in the final. Prior to his appointment to head coach, Ryan won a gold medal with the U.S. team as an assistant coach at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He also served as the U.S. Women's National Staff Coach for Region IV for the two years prior to joining the national team coaching staff.

"We are very excited to welcome Greg to Michigan," U-M athletics director Bill Martin said. "His breadth of coaching experience both nationally and at the collegiate level will help move this program forward."

The move marks a return to the Big Ten Conference for Ryan, who spent eight years at the helm of Wisconsin from 1986-93. With the Badgers, Ryan made five NCAA appearances and advanced all the way to the NCAA semifinals twice, including one trip to the championship game. Ryan went 112-32-7 during his tenure at Wisconsin.

His collegiate resume spans 15 years as a head coach in Division I women's soccer. Through three separate NCAA coaching assignments, Ryan boasts a 189-81-18 (.688) record. The 1991 NSCAA Coach of the Year, Ryan is already ranked among the all-time top 25 Division I coaches by winning percentage.

Ryan also guided the Colorado College women's program from 1999-2002, posting a 40-28-6 record over four seasons. In 2000, he led the Tigers to 13 victories, their highest total in nearly a decade. Ryan's resume also includes head coaching experience at his alma mater, Southern Methodist University (1996-98), where he amassed a 37-21-5 record in three seasons with the women's team and took the Mustangs to the NCAA Tournament in 1997.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Ryan played professionally in the North American Soccer League. He appeared with four different NASL teams from 1979-84, winning a pair of league titles with the Chicago Sting. A four-year letterwinner at SMU (1975-78), he earned first-team All-America honors as a defender for the Mustangs during his senior campaign.

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