Juan Enrique De Brigard will begin his eighth season with the USF women's soccer program as a volunteer assistant coach in 2018, mainly working with the Bulls' goalkeepers. A highly-regarded expert in physical training, De Brigard has over 30 years of coaching experience recognized for providing groundbreaking levels of coaching and strategies to enhance individual and team play.
Over the past seven seasons, De Brigard helped mentor former Bulls' goalkeeper Christiane Endler, who signed to play professionally with Chelsea FC in England. Under De Brigard's leadership, Endler set the program's single-season record in shutouts with nine in 2012 and the all-time record in GAA at 0.90. Endler was named second team All-American Athletic Conference in 2013 and was also named conference goalkeeper of the week three times. De Brigard also mentored one of USF’s most succesful goalkeepers, Kat Elliott, who was one of only two Bulls to start in goal all four years of her career. She finished her career with the most shutouts of any USF goalie at 25.
De Brigard has helped lead the Bulls to six straight 10-plus win seasons and three postseason appearances in the past four years.
In his first season with the Bulls, De Brigard played a vital role in the Bulls' breakout season. He helped guide USF to the farthest they had ever been in the BIG EAST Championships. The Bulls were the No. 3 seed out of the American Division and received a first-round bye. USF traveled to the nation's capital and knocked off Georgetown in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, USF came from behind twice to defeat then- No.12/8 Marquette, 3-2, in Piscataway, NJ. The Bulls eventually lost to No. 22 West Virginia, 1-0, in their first finals appearance.Â
Prior to 2010 the Bulls had never advanced past the second round of the championships and had never finished higher than second in a conference tournament in 16 seasons.
More impressively, the Bulls earned the program's first NCAA Tournament in 2010 and picked up their first NCAA win, a 3-1 over Auburn in the first round in Tallahassee, Fla. The Bulls bowed out of the tournament in a 2-1 loss to No. 8 Florida State in the second round.
Fluent in English, Spanish and German, De Brigard is a native of Colombia
De Brigard obtained his B.S. in Physical Education from the world famous German Sport University in Cologne. He later completed his soccer education by acquiring his professional soccer coaching license of the German Soccer Federation.
De Brigard carries the exclusive title of the "Fussball - Lehrer" (Soccer Teacher) and is therefore qualified to coach any professional soccer team in the world.
In 25 years of international coaching experience, Coach De Brigard has been recognized for his versatile involvement in different areas of soccer. He has successfully trained many young players towards reaching their goals of obtaining professional soccer careers. He has been a head coach and a physical trainer at the highest level in Colombian soccer.
In 2008, De Brigard created non-profit organization that teaches football at no cost in elementary schools of low income areas in Tampa. More than 1200 children have benefited from the program.
