Bowling Green State University Athletics
Andy Richards Agrees to Three-Year Contract
February 20, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Feb. 20, 2006
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University has reached an agreement with Falcon women's soccer coach Andy Richards on a three-year contract, BGSU Director of Athletics Paul Krebs has announced. The contract will run through June 30, 2009.
"We are pleased to reach this agreement with Coach Richards," said Krebs. "He is an outstanding, energetic individual and coach, and the University is excited about the direction of the women's soccer program.
"Coach Richards' student-athletes have been successful in the classroom as well as on the field, and this contract is a reward for his outstanding contributions over the past several years. We are thrilled to keep him in the Falcon family."
Richards' new contract marks the first time in school history that a soccer coach has received a multi-year contract.
Richards completed his sixth season as BGSU's head coach in November, having guided the Falcons to the Mid-American Conference's regular-season and tournament titles in 2005. Richards led the Brown and Orange to a 14-7-2 overall record last fall, including a 9-2-0 league ledger, earning MAC Coach-of-the-Year honors. He has an overall record of 61-59-12 through his first six years in Northwest Ohio.
"I am delighted to have been asked to sign a long-term contract, and to commit the next three years to the Bowling Green women's soccer program," said Richards. "In particular, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Paul Krebs and (Associate A.D.) Janna Blais for offering me this opportunity and for being proactive in the process. I consider myself extremely fortunate to work at BGSU, and I am very excited for the future of Falcon soccer."
The 2005 team set a school record for wins, and won the league's tournament title for the second consecutive year. The 2004 Falcons also won the MAC Tournament title to earn the first NCAA Championships berth in school history. In his six seasons, Richards has led the Falcons to the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament on five occasions and to the championship match four times, including each of the last three seasons. Richards-coached teams have posted a league tournament record of 8-3-3.
Richards and the '05 Falcons swept the MAC's specialty awards, as senior Samantha Meister was the league's Player of the Year and Corbie Yee was named the MAC Freshman of the Year. Richards, in addition to being named the conference coach of the year, was runner-up for Soccer Buzz Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year.
The 2005 Falcons set school records for most wins and fewest losses in a season, both overall and in MAC play, and also set a record with an 11-match unbeaten streak. That streak began in late September and took the Falcons all the way through the league tournament and into the NCAAs.
In the classroom, BGSU had six student-athletes, the most of any conference school, chosen to the Academic All-MAC Team in 2005. One of those six, Ali Shingler, was the first BGSU women's soccer student-athlete ever to earn Academic All-America First-Team honors.
Richards was hired as the second coach in BGSU women's soccer history on April 10, 2000. He came to BG after five seasons as assistant women's soccer coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore.
A native of Warwick, England, Richards brought to the Falcons a wealth of experience in not only intercollegiate soccer, but also in club, high school and youth soccer. For the two years prior to coming to BG, Richards served as a member of the coaching staff for the Region IV Olympic Development Program.
He was also the state coach for the 17-year-old age group of the Oregon ODP. Richards was heavily involved with the Corvallis United Soccer Club in his final four years there.
Prior to his appointment at Oregon State, Richards spent five years as the Regional Director for Goal Line Soccer Clinics in Oregon. Richards taught and coached at the high-school level in England before moving to the United States.
Richards earned his Bachelor of Education degree from Sheffield City Polytechnic, located in Sheffield, England, in 1989. He received his Master of Education degree from Oregon State in 1997.
Andy Richards - YEAR-BY-YEAR AT BGSU
Year Overall Pct. MAC Pct. Finish MAC Tournament
2000 10-10-1 .500 5-5-1 .500 7th of 12 Advanced to Championship
2001 7-10-2 .421 2-9-1 .208 12th of 13 Did not qualify
2002 12-8-2 .591 7-4-1 .625 4th of 13 Advanced to Semifinals
2003 8-12-3 .413 5-5-2 .500 8th of 13 Advanced to Championship
2004 10-12-2 .458 5-5-2 .500 8th of 13 Tournament Champions
2005 14-7-2 .652 9-2-0 .818 1st of 12 Tournament Champions
Totals 61-59-12 .508 33-30-7 .521 1 MAC Regular-Season Title;
2 MAC Tournament Championships;
2 NCAA Championships Appearances
