Mark Berson Explained

Mark Berson
Birth Date:16 March 1953
Birth Place:Hartford, Connecticut
Player Years1:1971–1974
Player Team1:North Carolina Tar Heels
Coach Years1:1977
Coach Team1:The Citadel Bulldogs
Coach Years2:1978–2020
Coach Team2:South Carolina Gamecocks
Overall Record:522-266-76
Championships:Conference USA Regular Season Championship (2011)
Conference USA Tournament Championship (2010)
Conference USA Tournament Championship (2005)
Metro Regular Season Championship (1993)
Awards:National Soccer Coaches Association Coach of the Year (1984, 1985, 1988, 1995)
South Carolina Youth Soccer Association's Hall of Fame (1992)
Independent Coach of the Year (1998)
Conference USA Coach of the Year 2011

Mark Berson (born March 16, 1953) is an American retired soccer coach. He spent 43 seasons as head men's soccer coach at the University of South Carolina. He started his coaching career at The Citadel in 1976.

Collegiate career

Berson graduated from Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey in 1971 and enrolled at the University of North Carolina.[1] On the Tar Heel soccer team, he played midfielder his freshman year and goalie the final three years. Berson graduated in 1975 with a degree in journalism and later earned a master's of education degree in sport administration in 1977 from Ohio University.

Coaching career

Berson took a position as an assistant coach on The Citadel's men's soccer program in 1976. A year later, he became the head coach and guided the Bulldogs to their best record ever with an 11–5 mark. In 1978, Berson accepted the head coaching position at the University of South Carolina. He led the Gamecocks to a 13–3–1 record in the program's first season and in the second season they obtained a spot in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. The program achieved a high level success under his guidance and his teams won three conference championships in only seven years of being in a conference. The program has made a total of 22 appearances in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, all under his direction. Berson coached three players who appeared in the World Cup (Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff and Brad Guzan) for Team USA, spanning a total of 21 years.

When he retired after the 2021 season, he had the most wins of any active coach in NCAA Division I with 522 career victories.

Personal life

Berson is married and has two children, Erin and Luke, who both went to the University of South Carolina.

Head coaching record

Notes
1977The Citadel1150
1978South Carolina1331
1979South Carolina1450NCAA Appearance
1980South Carolina1252
1981South Carolina1641
1982South Carolina1252
1983South Carolina8112
1984South Carolina1442
1985South Carolina2031NCAA Appearance
1986South Carolina1750NCAA Appearance
1987South Carolina1623NCAA Appearance
1988South Carolina1444NCAA Appearance
1989South Carolina1732NCAA Appearance
1990South Carolina1452NCAA Appearance
1991South Carolina1450NCAA Appearance
1992South Carolina1353NCAA Appearance
1993South Carolina1644Metro Champions; NCAA Appearance
1994South Carolina1640NCAA Appearance
1995South Carolina1640
1996South Carolina892
1997South Carolina1631NCAA Appearance
1998South Carolina1650NCAA Appearance
1999South Carolina1072
2000South Carolina1243NCAA Appearance
2001South Carolina1252NCAA Appearance
2002South Carolina1181NCAA Appearance
2003South Carolina972
2004South Carolina1271NCAA Appearance
2005South Carolina1272Conference USA Tournament Champions; NCAA Appearance
2006South Carolina1151
2007South Carolina1162
2008South Carolina1065
2009South Carolina785
2010South Carolina1382Conference USA Tournament Champions; NCAA Appearance
2011South Carolina972Conference USA Regular Season Champions; NCAA Appearance
2012South Carolina5112
2013South Carolina775
2014South Carolina10100
2015South Carolina1182NCAA Appearance
2016South Carolina1181NCAA Appearance
2017South Carolina692
2018South Carolina7100
2019South Carolina792
2020South Carolina871gamecocksonline.com - Men's Soccer - 2023 South Carolina Men's Soccer History & Records - Head Coaching Records
Overall5222667622 NCAA Appearances

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/berson_mark00.html Mark Berson profile