Penn head coach departing for senior leadership position

After two decades leading the Penn men’s soccer program, head coach Rudy Fuller is departing the post to take a senior leadership position in the Ivy League school’s athletic department.

Fuller has been named Senior Associate Athletic Director for Intercollegiate Programs, the university announced on Thursday. Fuller will provide administrative oversight for all 33 intercollegiate sports with specific responsibility for football and men’s and women’s basketball, in addition to overseeing compliance, student development and sports performance.

“I take great pride in having been a part of such a storied and successful program, and I am confident that the program is poised for significant success in the years ahead,” Fuller said in a news release. “I look forward to working alongside student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni, campus leaders and the entire Penn community as we work to elevate the academic and athletic experience of our student-athletes, engage the passion and pride of our Penn community, and positively impact all those connected to Penn Athletics.”

Fuller’s teams won seven Philadelphia Soccer Six championships, reached the NCAA Championship four times (2002, 2008, 2010, 2013), and won three Ivy League titles (2002, 2008, 2013). Penn advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on two occasions, in 2002 and 2010.

He’s also coached five players who went on to be drafted by Major League Soccer, including Penn’s first-ever Ivy League Player of the Year Matthew Haefner and Duke Lacroix, who was Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year in 2013.  

Prior to arriving at Penn, Fuller was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Georgetown University, from 1993-98. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown in 1993, his MBA from Villanova in 2003, and is pursuing a master’s in organizational dynamics from Penn.

Fuller is the second Philly Soccer Six head coach to leave his job since the end of last season. Dave MacWilliams left Temple after his contract wasn’t renewed and former Maryland associate head coach Brian Rowland was brought in.