BATON ROUGE- University of Tampa soccer coach George Fotopoulos has been named the third coach in the history of the LSU soccer program, associate athletic director Debbie Corum announced Saturday.
Fotopoulos comes to LSU after accumulating a 20-14-1 record in two seasons at Division II Tampa. In 1998, he directed a first-year Tampa program to a 9-7-1 record and turned the Spartans into a nationally competitive program in just their second year, going 11-7 this past season.
“We did an extensive national search and we believe that George Fotopoulos is exactly what our program needs to help our program become competitive in the SEC, and ultimately, on the NCAA level,” said Corum. “This is a tremendous day for the LSU soccer program, we feel like we’ve brought in someone who will take this program to new heights.”
A 1992 graduate of the University of Tampa, Fotopoulos played forward for the Spartans for two years after transfering from Old Dominion. He was named first-team all-Sunshine State Conference twice and as a senior, was voted the NSCAA National On-Field Player of the Year in 1992 after leading the Spartans to the Division II national championship game.
“What attracted me to LSU is the rich tradition of athletics,” said Fotopoulos. “Growing up in Florida, I understand the rich tradition of athletics and the commitment to successful programs with the Southeastern Conference.
“For one reason or another, soccer hasn’t experienced that level of success or built its own tradition at LSU yet and that’s what attracts me to this position,” added Fotopoulos. “My main goal is to start a tradition at LSU.”
Following his collegiate career at Tampa, he continued his playing career in the professional ranks with the APSL Tampa Bay Rowdies, then went on to compete internationally with AEK of Tripoli in the Greek second division in 1993. His professional playing experience includes a stint with the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers in 1994.
The 30-year-old Fotopoulos began coaching on the high school level in his native-Tampa, serving as head coach of the boy’s soccer team at Tampa Catholic from 1993-97. During the 1996 season he also re-joined the collegiate ranks as an assistant for the University of Tampa men’s program and served in that capacity for two seasons before the inception of women’s soccer at Tampa in 1998.
Heavily involved in club soccer in the state of Florida, he directed the Tampa Bay Heather soccer club to United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) national championships in the Under-19 and Under-20 age divisions. Fotopoulos has placed over 125 Florida youth players on college teams.
Fotopoulos has been heavily involved with the Florida Olympic Development Program since 1995. In 1997, he was named Director of Women’s Soccer for the state of Florida. He has a United States Soccer Federation (U.S.S.F.) “A” license, the highest level a coach can receive.
His wife, Danielle, owns the NCAA record for career points (284) and career goals (118), men or women, spending two years at SMU and then two at Florida. Danielle helped the Gators to the 1998 NCAA title, scoring the lone goal in Florida’s shocking 1-0 upset of perennial power North Carolina and was named the National Player of the Year.
This past summer she was a member of the United States women’s World Cup team that brought home the championship with a thrilling shootout victory over China to cap a run the captured the hearts of a nation.
She has since become a respected color analyst on women’s soccer broadcasts and served in that capacity for ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA women’s Final Four earlier this month, and also served in the same capacity for Fox Sports South’s coverage of SEC women’s soccer this past fall. She will join the Tigers as a volunteer assistant coach.
Fotopoulos replaces Greg Boggs who was relieved of his position as head coach in November after compiling a 12-44-3 record in three season at the helm.
First priority for Fotopoulos will be tapping into Louisiana’s underrated soccer resources.
“The perception that Louisiana is not a hot-bed for soccer is an incorrect perception. Louisiana is a growing state in youth soccer, primarily in the women’s game,” said Fotopoulos. “Louisiana has produced many of the top players in the nation over the last few years. I want to get the best players from Louisiana. I’ve got to be able to get them. There is more talent here than people realize and everywhere I’ve gone I’ve been able to be successful by starting the foundation of my programs with locally-based talent.”
Fotopoulos’ appointment is effective Jan. 1.