Alabama Athletics released a statement Friday morning announcing the resignation of soccer coach Todd Bramble. Bramble will take over as the head coach of George Mason’s women’s soccer team.
Bramble was the the head coach of the Crimson Tide for seven seasons. He led the team to the NCAA tournament in 2011. Bramble’s last season resulted in a first-round SEC tournament loss.
“This brings back memories of Mal Moore and the gratitude I have for being afforded the opportunity to coach at Alabama,” Bramble said in the release. “I am thankful for the players I have been able to work with and the assistant coaches who have worked alongside me.
“I would also like to thank all the fans and students who came out to support the program since I have been here. Hopefully, they can appreciate how hard our teams played and enjoyed the style with which our teams played. Alabama has a special athletic department full of talented teams and coaches and being a part of that is something I will always appreciate. Roll Tide!”
Alabama athletic director Bill Battle released a statement Friday afternoon about Bramble’s resignation.
“We deeply appreciate all that Todd did for our program and we wish him well at George Mason,” Battle said in the statement. “We are beginning our search for a new coach immediately. I have appointed Jerrod Roh, our assistant coach, to interim head coach. Our goal is to build a championship team. I assure our current student-athletes, as well as those who have signed to play at Alabama and recruits that have committed to sign here, that our expectations for Alabama soccer remain high. We are committed to continuing building what Coach Bramble began.”
Chris Henderson, college soccer editor of AllWhiteKit.com, said Bramble’s resignation is surprising, as it leaves Alabama in a vulnerable position.
“The timing is really bad especially because it comes after National Signing Day,” Henderson said. “Basically the new coach, if they look out over the program, is going to come in basically with the last coaches recruits. With soccer too, it’s a situation where the recruits are going to be Bramble’s probably for the next year or two because everything comes in so early. It’s going to be a challenge to get everything up and running with a new coach and a new system for the new season.”
Bramble’s resignation comes before the start of the spring season. Alabama is scheduled to play a doubleheader at home Sunday against West Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville.
Bramble’s transition from the SEC to the Atlantic 10 Conference is unconventional, Henderson said.
“It’s an interesting move because he had been linked with some other jobs in that region earlier this off season,” Henderson said. “It’s unexpected though when a coach goes from an SEC position to a mid-major conference position like that. A program like George Mason which hasn’t really won in a while, it’s a bit of a shock.”
During Bramble’s tenure at Alabama, he produced one NCAA berth in 2011. He had a cumulative 57-65-13 (25-44-10 SEC) record.
“It’s a bit of a surprise because they actually extended his contract last summer so you would’ve thought that would’ve happened if he got the sense that the administration was unhappy with his performance,” Henderson said. “But it’s a situation that might be he just thought he couldn’t take the program any further than what he had done so far.”
This story will be updated.
