Faherty Named Head Coach At Stony Brook
December 07, 2015 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Having served as an assistant coach for UW women's soccer the past three seasons, Brendan Faherty has been named the new head women's soccer coach at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.
“I am grateful to (UW associate athletic director) Shondell Reed, (head coach) Lesle Gallimore, and (associate head coach) Amy Griffin for affording me the opportunity to coach at the University of Washington the past three years," Faherty said. "I am very proud of what the program has accomplished during my time and I look forward to being a fan for many years to come. I can't speak highly enough about the women's soccer student-athletes and the athletic staff at Washington, they have made the last three years truly enjoyable. Lastly, I would like to thank Lesle for her support and guidance. Her experience and knowledge of the game has been invaluable to me.”
Faherty takes over a program that has been to one NCAA Tournament, as the Seawolves won the American East Conference tournament in 2012 to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Stony Brook dismissed long time head coach Sue Ryan after 31 years with the Seawolves.
A Guilford, Conn., native, Faherty played collegiately at Northeastern University in Boston and spent three years as an assistant and associate head coach at the University of Massachusetts. Faherty served as the head coach at the University of New Haven for eight years in West Haven, Conn., becoming the winningest coach in program history with 82 victories. He also led the Chargers to a pair of Division II NCAA Tournament appearances. His return to the northeast will serve as a homecoming of sorts.
"We are obviously sad to be losing a quality coach and person like Brendan Faherty, but are clearly thrilled for him to have earned this opportunity to be a Division I Head women's soccer coach,” UW head coach Lesle Gallimore said. “In his time at Washington, Brendan has been an exemplary recruiter, a great coach, and a person whose integrity makes him an outstanding role model for our student-athletes.”
Faherty helped the Huskies earn back-to-back NCAA tournament bids in 2014 and 2015 for the first time since 2009 and 2010. UW made its fourth Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history in 2014. Faherty was also instrumental in landing the highly touted recruiting class in 2015 that was ranked No. 13 in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.com and included two U.S. Youth National Team players.
Faherty becomes the latest in a long line of UW assistants earning Division I head coaching positions, joining Jim Thomas, current head coach at Boise St., Tara Bilanski Erickson, who coached for both Portland State and the University of Oregon, and Chuck Sekyra, who coached at Seattle Pacific for many years.
“When I hire for this position, it is typically with the intent of supporting that coach's desire to become a head coach, and I'm pleased that Brendan was able to use his time and UW to learn, grow and reach that goal,” Gallimore said. “I have no doubts that he'll bring great success to the program at Stony Brook and afford his student-athletes a great intercollegiate experience."
The Huskies will begin the assistant coaching search immediately and hope to fill the vacant position by the end of UW's winter quarter.
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