Brenner Tabbed NSCAA South Assistant of the Year
12/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dane Brenner, an assistant coach on the Wake Forest men's soccer staff, has been named the NSCAA's Glenn "Mooch" Myernick Assistant Coach of the Year for the South Region, the organization announced Thursday.
Brenner, who completed his fifth season as an assistant at Wake Forest in 2015, is the team's recruiting coordinator and works primarily with the Demon Deacon goalkeepers and defensive unit, which posted one of the best defensive seasons in Wake Forest history this year.
"I am very honored to receive this award and want to thank the Wake Forest players, coaching staff, alumni, support staff, and administration," Brenner said. "They make my job easy every day and I love working at Wake Forest with the great people involved with our program."
A 2006 graduate of South Florida, Brenner arrived at Wake Forest prior to the 2011 season and is the longest-tenured coach on staff following the coaching change at the end of the 2014 season. Since arriving at Wake Forest, Brenner has worked with five goalkeepers that have seen time between the pipes in Alec Ferrell, Andrew Harris, Grant Bishop, Michael Lisch and Doug Ryan. This season, Ferrell posted a 0.66 goals against average while the team only allowed 13 goals on the season, which ties the program record for the fewest goals giving up during a single season. Ferrell's mark is the fourth-best at season's end in program history. Throughout the season with eight shutouts, Ferrell flirted with Brian Edwards' program record of 0.50 GAA during the 2007 season but came up just short.
In 2012, Brenner helped Lisch culminate his career at Wake Forest with a career-best 0.68 GAA throughout the season. After playing one year at New Mexico in 2013 as a graduate student, Lisch went on to be picked 54th overall by the Houston Dynamo in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.
In nine seasons as an assistant coach at Wake Forest (2011-present) and Connecticut (2007-2010), Brenner's teams have never missed the NCAA Championship. His best runs in the tournament included Elite Eight appearances in 2007 and 2005 while reaching the Sweet 16 in 2008 and 2013.
"Anyone who knows Dane and his work ethic knows how well-deserving he is of this award," said head coach Bobby Muuss. "He's put so much time into the program and our players and we can't thank him enough for it."
The award is named after Glenn "Mooch" Myernick, who formerly served as an assistant coach at Hartwick College and for the U.S. National Team, and is designed to highlight outstanding assistant coaches in the college game.
Brenner will be recognized with the seven other regional winners and the national winner at the NSCAA Coaches Convention in Baltimore on January 15, 2016.
