National Search Underway For New Head Women’s Golf Coach
TAMPA, MAY 21, 2024 – University of South Florida women’s golf head coach Erika Brennan has accepted an offer to lead the University of Georgia women’s golf program, ending her successful seven-year tenure at USF.
Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly will commence a national search for a new leader of the USF women’s golf program immediately.
“Erika masterfully led our USF women’s golf program to great success and did so through faithful dedication to her unique style of positive leadership,” Kelly said. “We are grateful for her tenure here at the University of South Florida and wish her, Brian and Blakely the best of luck at their new home in Athens as Erika pursues the opportunity to lead the Georgia women’s golf program.”
Brennan led the Bulls to back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances (2023 & 2024) for the first time in more than 20 years and recruited numerous talented student-athletes, including 2024 AAC Player of the Year, four-time all-conference performer and All-America honorable mention Melanie Green, who rewrote the Bulls record book.
Brennan’s Bulls teams won six tournament titles, including three in 2023-24, and posted top-four finishes in nine of 10 events in 2023-24 as the Bulls were ranked No. 32 nationally and Green reached a top 20 national ranking. Brennan’s teams set numerous program records, including low round 271 (-17), low 54-hole total 836 (-28), season par or better rounds (19), season birdies (521), and season eagles (7), while matching the program record for 36-hole score (565).
STATEMENT FROM ERIKA BRENNAN
“The University of South Florida is a place that has this special way of crawling inside your heart and changing you in the best ways. I’m forever grateful to have had the opportunity to coach at USF and it’s a place I’ll carry forward with me each day.
“I’m especially thankful for Mark Harlan, who hired me to help elevate this program, and to Michael Kelly, who continues to believe in me at every step. To Jim Fee, the best sport administrator in the nation, thank you for your mentorship, loyalty, and laughs in equal measure. Thank you to Dr. Lee Dorpfeld for your endless empathy and intentional challenges that push me to be the very best person I can be – you always understand the assignment.
“To those who work relentlessly behind the scenes as part of the support staff of women’s golf, the ways you have poured yourselves into our program are far-reaching and you are the reason for the program’s success. You execute at a high level and you also make it fun.
“For the student-athletes I’ve had the great pleasure to coach, thank you for believing in the vision for this program and for putting your authentic stamp on it during your time here. Each of you is deserving of every good thing that comes your way. Thank you to Coach Dalton Stevens for being an incredible coach, an even better role model, and one of my closest friends. To my family, Brian and Blakely, your unconditional love is what makes this all possible. You two are the fuel, the engine, and forever my North Star.
“And, to Bulls Nation, your support for our program and our family these last seven years is special. I’m forever a Bull and forever a fan. Thank you for some of the very best years of my life.”
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics currently sponsors 21 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 13 different sports, 20 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference, including the recent additions of women’s lacrosse and women’s beach volleyball. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 58th season in 2023-24. More than 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. USF garnered two national championships in 2022-23 as Romaine Beckford won NCAA indoor and outdoor high jump titles. The Bulls have claimed 31 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including three in 2023-24, and own 145 conference titles in 16 sports in department history, led by 20 each for men’s tennis and men’s soccer. USF has claimed 79 men’s conference championships and 66 women’s titles, led by 14 in women’s tennis and 12 in volleyball. The Bulls have posted a combined annual grade-point average for a program record of 18 straight as of fall 2023. USF has had over 600 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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