Ben Waldrum appointed as head coach of Pitt women’s soccer program

PITTSBURGH – University of Pittsburgh Athletic Director Allen Greene announced a coaching shift, in line with the professional soccer model, as Randy Waldrum has been named technical director of the Pitt Women’s Soccer program. The Panthers’ will now turn to Ben Waldrum, who has been on the Pitt staff for the past seven seasons including the past six as associate head coach, to lead the program heading into the 2025 season.

“Randy [Waldrum] and his staff have done a tremendous job building the Pitt Women’s Soccer program over the past seven seasons,” said Greene. “As we look to continue to innovate and elevate women’s soccer in Pittsburgh, it became obvious that adopting a professional model with Randy assuming the role of technical director would be the best way to utilize his vast experience and success across the collegiate, professional, and international levels. Randy’s soccer acumen is unrivaled, and this new role will allow him to focus his energy on the technical and strategic direction of the program. He continues to be integral to the success of the Pitt Women’s Soccer program and will remain an ideal mentor to our new head coach Ben Waldrum.”

“As collegiate athletics continues to change it is important for our program to be prepared to adjust with it,” said Randy Waldrum. “Shifting my role to technical director will allow me to focus my attention on roster makeup, scouting, game planning, and all aspects of player development. I have seen this model have great success on the professional and international levels and am excited to be in position to mirror that here at Pitt. Ben [Waldrum] is well prepared to take on head coaching duties. He has a great passion for the game and has the energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge to lead the program. Pitt Women’s Soccer will continue to be a program on the rise in the ACC and on the national stage.”

The winningest coach in program history, Randy Waldrum led the Panthers to a 71-51-11 record with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances over the past seven seasons. He engineered the four winningest seasons in program history including a 17-6-1 mark with an NCAA Elite Eight appearance in 2023. Waldrum concludes his NCAA Division I coaching career ranked in the top-20 overall with 470 victories.

Waldrum was appointed the head coach of the Nigeria Women’s Senior National Team, the Super Falcons, on Oct. 5, 2020, a role he served in addition to his coaching role at Pitt. He followed up his successful fourth season as head coach of the Panthers in 2021 by guiding Nigeria to a 1-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals of the African Women’s World Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament in Casablanca in July 2022. The victory allowed the Super Falcons to secure one of four spots for the African nations in the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Waldrum also guided the Nigerian National Team, with former Pitt standout Deborah Abiodun, during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The appearance in the Olympic Games was Nigeria’s first in over 16 years.

Waldrum saw unprecedented success in his tenure at the helm of the perennial powerhouse Notre Dame women’s program. In his 14 seasons, he led the Fighting Irish to two national championships, capturing the College Cup title in 2004 and ’10. His teams won eight Big East Tournament titles and appeared in eight NCAA Final Four games in that span.

A two-time national coach of the year (2009 by Soccer America; ’10 by NSCAA), Waldrum was the first coach in NCAA history to lead a team to a national title in his/her first season with a program. He wrapped up his tenure at Notre Dame with a mark of 292-58-17 (.819).

Waldrum joined the Fighting Irish after beginning the women’s soccer program at Baylor, building the Bears into a threat in the Big 12 from scratch. In three seasons with Baylor, Waldrum guided the Bears to an overall mark of 46-14-3 after spending 1995-96 starting up the program. He was named the Big 12 and NSCAA Region Coach of the Year after a 15-5-1 record in 1998, as the Bears reached as high as 12th in the nation en route to a Big 12 Conference title.

Prior to his tenure at Baylor, Waldrum spent six seasons at the helm of the Tulsa program, serving as head coach for both the men’s and women’s programs from 1989-94. He led the men to a record of 66-33-6 and the women to a mark of 61-36-9.

In addition to his impressive resume in the NCAA, Waldrum also spent time in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), becoming the head coach of the Houston Dash expansion team in January of 2014. In his three seasons with the Dash, Waldrum coached seven national team players who laced up with their respective countries in the Rio Summer Olympic Games, including Team USA members Carli Lloyd, Morgan Brian, and Pittsburgh native Meghan Klingenberg.

Waldrum also served as the head coach of the United States U-23 National Team from 2012-13, winning the Four Nations Cup in 2012 and ’13 as well as the Three Nations Cup in ’12. His international coaching resume also included a stint at the helm of the Trinidad & Tobago Women’s National Team from 2014-16.

RANDY WALDRUM BY THE NUMBERS

• Two-time NCAA Champion (2004, 2010)
  • First coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the NCAA title in first season
• Three-time National Coach of the Year (1996, 2009, 2010)
• 470 career wins (top 20 all-time in NCAA history)
  • 470-159-40
• 29 seasons with 10 or more wins
• Nine seasons with 20 or more wins
• Nine conference titles
• 18 NCAA Tournament Appearance
  • Led Pitt to first NCAA Elite Eight in 2023
• 29 All-America selections
• Led Pitt to five consecutive winning seasons (longest stretch in program history)
• Led Pitt to program records in wins, ACC wins, home wins, points, goals and assists in 2023

RANDY WALDRUM COLLEGIATE COACHING STOPS

• Austin College (1982) – Men’s
• Texas Wesleyan (1988) – Men’s
• Tulsa (1989-94) – Men’s & Women’s
• Baylor (1996-98) – Women’s
• Notre Dame (1999-2013) – Women’s
• Pitt (2018-24) – Women’s

NEXT IN LINE

Ben Waldrum is ready to carry on the success the Pitt program has reached after working under the direction of his father for nearly 15 seasons, including the past seven at the University of Pittsburgh. He earned his start in collegiate coaching as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame (2003-08). With both Waldrums on staff, the Fighting Irish accumulated a record of 111-13-5 while winning the 2004 NCAA National Championship. He was a member of three NCAA College Cup appearances while at Notre Dame while also winning five Big East regular season titles and coaching five All-Americans during his time in South Bend.

“Ben [Waldrum] is well-prepared to take on the role of head coach of the Pitt Women’s Soccer program,” said Greene. “He has learned under a coaching legend in Randy Waldrum and will benefit from continuing to have him on the pitch as the technical director of Pitt Women’s Soccer. Ben is extremely passionate about growing the game, competing at a championship level, and helping our student-athletes maximize their opportunity at Pitt. We are excited to adopt this professional staffing model and look forward to watching Pitt Women’s Soccer continue to excel on the field, in the community, and in the classroom.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to be the next head coach of the Pitt Women’s Soccer program,” said Ben Waldrum. “We have worked diligently over the past seven years to elevate this program and this shift to a professional staffing model is going to help us make the next jump. I have learned so much from Randy [Waldrum] throughout my career and we will continue to operate in sync with him as technical director of the program. We are excited about the roster we have put together for the 2025 season and are eager to get them all on campus to begin working towards another NCAA Tournament run.”

Waldrum has been instrumental in the elevation of the Pitt program as the Panthers have secured three of the largest and most talented recruiting classes in program history. The recruiting success has shown as Pitt has received 14 All-ACC honorees in the past seven seasons with four players (Deborah Abiodun, Landy Mertz, Sarah Schupansky, and Amanda West) earning NWSL contracts over the past three seasons.

He has also coached on the national level with the Trinidad & Tobago Women’s National Team (2014-16) and in the WPSL with FC Dallas (2015-18).