PEORIA, Ill. -- Jim DeRose, who just completed his 12th year as the head coach of the Bradley Soccer program, has been named the national Coach of the Year by Soccer America, according to an announcement on the publication's website this morning. DeRose follows former men's basketball coach Dick Versace (1986 U.S. Basketball Writers Association) as the second national coach of the year in Bradley Athletics history.
The winningest coach in Bradley Soccer history, DeRose guided the Braves through a tragic beginning to the season then led his team to the most-successful campaign on the field in the program's 21 seasons. The 2007 season highlights included a program-record 16 wins (16-6-4), the team's first-ever undefeated run through the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season schedule en route to a share of Bradley's third straight regular-season league title, the program's first-ever State Farm MVC Tournament championship and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament wins on the way to a quarterfinal finish in the national championship event.
DeRose, who also has been named the 2007 adidas/National Soccer Coaches Association of America Midwest Region Coach of the Year and heads the two-time MVC Coaching Staff of the Year, has pushed his career record to 143-85-25 (.615) in his 12 seasons at Bradley. His 143 victories represent 73.7 percent of the 194 wins in the program's 21-year NCAA Division I history. He has coached the Braves to all four of their Valley regular-season championships (1998, 2005, 2006, 2007) and their four NCAA Tournament appearances (2000, 2002, 2005 and 2007).
Just two days before the start of preseason practice, redshirt freshman Danny Dahlquist died from carbon monoxide poisoning, the result of a house fire, and three other team members were subsequently charged with felony arson. Despite missing as many as 16 preseason training sessions, DeRose guided the Braves through one of the toughest schedules in program history, a 20-game regular-season slate that included seven defending conference champions and eight 2006 NCAA Tournament participants. Of Bradley's six losses in 2007, two came to the two teams that played for the 2007 national championship (Wake Forest and Ohio State), one came to fellow Elite Eight qualifier Illinois-Chicago, one came to NCAA Tournament first-round winner SMU and one was to NCAA Tournament first-round host Saint Louis.
After posting a 4-0-2 regular-season Valley record to share the league championship with Creighton and become the third program in MVC history to claim at least a share of three straight regular-season titles, Bradley won its first postseason championship by blanking Eastern Illinois, 2-0, in the semifinals before stunning the host Bluejays, 1-0, in the final with an 89th minute goal from senior Stephen Brust.
The Braves then embarked on a magical run to the Elite Eight, which began with the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win, a 2-0 home triumph versus Big East Conference Red Division champion DePaul. The Braves followed with a 1-1 draw on the road against Big Ten champion Indiana, then advanced to the third round by knocking off the seven-time national champion Hoosiers in a penalty kick shootout, 5-4. As dramatic as the shootout win at Indiana was, Bradley's third-round win at Maryland will long be remembered as the “Miracle at Maryland.” Trailing the 2005 national champion 2-0 with less than three minutes remaining, the Braves got goals from Drew DeGurian and Chris Cutshaw in the final 2:31 of regulation, before Cutshaw headed home the game-winner with 1:15 left in the second sudden victory overtime for the 3-2 win.
With the community united in support of the team, Bradley took eight bus loads of fans to Columbus, Ohio, for the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game against the Big Ten Tournament champion Ohio State. Although Bradley suffered a 4-0 loss to the eventual national runner-up, the Braves were proudly serenaded by their rain-soaked fans throughout the game's closing minutes.
