Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Athletics - Siegel Center
1200 W. Broad St / PO Box 843013 Richmond, VA 232843013

Division 1 Virginia Northeast

Public Very Large National competitor

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Coaches

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Dave Giffard

Dave Giffard enters his 13th season at the helm of the VCU Men’s Soccer program in the fall of 2022, accumulating a 106-84-35 overall record with the Rams. During his tenure at VCU, Giffard has garnered many coaching honors. In addition to being named the 2018 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Giffard was also named one of the Top 10 coaches in college soccer by Top Drawer Soccer in 2016. In addition, Giffard was named the 2012 Virginia State Coach of the Year.

Under the direction of Giffard, VCU men’s soccer has soared to new heights. The Rams have been a force in the A-10, compiling a 49-18-16 conference record and making four appearances in the conference title game (2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017) and recently claiming the 2018 A-10 regular season title. Under Giffard, the Black & Gold have made three NCAA Tournament appearances (2012, 2013, 2017) including the #14 overall seed in 2012 and the #16 overall seed in 2017. The squad made it to the second round in both 2012 and 2017.

The Rams have gained national attention under Giffard, with at least one appearance in the national top-25 poll 10 of the last 11 seasons and more than 20 top-25 wins. He continually recruits some of the best players in the country to play in a VCU uniform. In the last nine years, VCU has had six top-25 recruiting classes, including four of the last five seasons.

Giffard has an impressive track record of developing young players who come to play under him. Recently, two VCU Men’s Soccer players have been ranked one of the nation’s Top-10 best players by Top Drawer Soccer. In 2018, Siad Haji was ranked the #8 player in the nation, and Rafael Andrade Santos was ranked #6 in 2017. Giffard has coached six student-athletes to All-American honors in Siad Haji, Juan Monge Solano, Rafael Andrade Santos, Dennis Castillo, Romena Bowie and Ulrik Edvardsen. Twenty-four of Giffard's players have been named United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) All-Region players. In addition to national honors, Giffard’s athletes continue to accumulate conference honors, including five Conference Players of the Year (Siad Haji, Rafael Andrade Santos, Dennis Castillo, Jason Johnson, Celio Pompeu) and 53 All-Conference players.

Since he started coaching in 1999, Giffard has been a pipeline to the pros, with more than 150 of his athletes having gone on to play professionally. In his time at VCU, more than 40 of Giffard’s players have gone on to the pro ranks. His former athletes have played in leagues in the United States, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Sweden and Costa Rica to name a few. In the last ten years, VCU has had eight MLS Draft Picks. In 2020, Ryo Shimazaki was selected in the 3rd round and 59th overall by The Columbus Crew. In the 2019 draft, Siad Haji was selected #2 overall by the San Jose Earthquakes. Haji is the highest draft pick ever out of VCU in any sport and tied with Marcus Camby for the highest draft pick of any sport in the A-10. Other draft picks from VCU include Jason Johnson, Dennis Castillo, Dakota Barnathan, Juan Arbelaez, Kharlton Belmar and Rafael Andrade Santos.

Since 2013, VCU is one of only 12 schools that has had multiple Generation Adidas contracts. VCU joins Syracuse, Akron, North Carolina, Indiana, UCLA, Maryland, Louisville, Wake Forest, Creighton, St. Louis and UCF in this category. Last winter, Celio Pompeu became the third Ram to leave school early to sign with Major League Soccer and was allocated to the league's newest expansion team, St. Louis City.

Not only does Giffard develop his student athletes on the field, but also in the classroom. The VCU Men’s Soccer GPA is consistently over 3.0, earning them multiple United Soccer Coaches academic awards. In the last nine years, VCU has boasted a perfect Academic Performance Rating of 1,000 five times.

VCU Men’s Soccer has been heavily involved in the community participating in events such as Celebrate RVA, Team Impact, Prism Soccer Camp, and Feed More.

Giffard holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from MacMurray College and a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from UAB. Giffard also serves as a scout for US Soccer. He resides in Glen Allen with his wife Marisa, son Regan and daughter Reese.

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Brett Teach

Entering his 13th season with the Rams, Brett Teach has been instrumental in elevating VCU to a national stage.

After serving as the head coach at Tusculum College, Teach has helped the Rams to a 106-84-35 record that has involved national rankings, as high as eighth in the country, and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

VCU has developed more than 30 players who have received professional contracts during Teach’s time at VCU thus far and multiple MLS draft picks, including Jason Johnson, Kharlton Belmar, Dennis Castillo, Rafael Andrate Santos, Siad Haji and Ryo Shimazaki. In addition, Teach has assisted in coaching 53 players to All-Conference honors.

“We are very excited that Brett is part of our staff here at VCU,” said Head Coach Dave Giffard. “He had a tremendous amount of success as a head coach over the last 20-plus years. Building a championship staff is just like putting together a championship team, and we took a big step in that direction the day we hired Brett. With players, and staff alike, we try to find the most talented, hard-working people possible, and Brett certainly epitomizes the type of person we want to associate with our program.”

Teach took Tusculum to a 41-18-5 record over three years that included back-to-back conference championships and back-to-back SAC Coach of the Year awards. In 2008, he took them to the Elite Eight, and Tusculum finished the regular season ranked seventh in Division II.

Prior to taking the reigns at Tusculum, Teach reached extraordinary levels of success at NAIA Auburn University at Montgomery. Piling up a 139-12-6 record over seven years, Teach led AUM to three NAIA National Runner-Up finishes, four Final Four appearances and five Elite Eight performances.

In the spring of 2015, Teach was inducted into the AUM Hall of Fame, after transforming the program into a national contender.

Teach has also spent time as a head coach at Georgia State, Oglethorpe and Erskine Universities, and has amassed a 375-208-28 overall record as a college head coach. Spending ten years coaching women’s soccer, Teach has a 270-141-19 record coaching on the men’s side.

During his successful career, Teach has been named Conference Coach of the Year nine times. He has also received NAIA Region XII Coach of the Year and NAIA South Region Coach of the Year on four occasions, while earning NSCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors in 2008 and NAIA National Coach of the Year accolades in 2000.

A four-year starting goalkeeper at NAIA King College, Teach helped his team to an 18-2 record and a NAIA Tournament Berth in 1984. He was named as an All-American that season. He brings his background filled with success with him to VCU.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of VCU Soccer,” Teach said. “I believe very strongly in the vision that Coach Giffard and the athletic department have set for men’s soccer, and I certainly feel that I can help contribute. It is fun to be a part of such an energetic and enthusiastic staff, and build off of the energy and positive experiences I had at my other stops. I feel very strongly that VCU creates unique and special experiences for the players and the staff.”

He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science/History from King in 1986 and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in the spring of 2008.

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Lucas Paulini

A former VCU standout, Lucas Paulini enters his fourth season as an Assistant Coach for the Rams in 2022. VCU has compiled a 20-18-7 record in that time, with a 13-6-3 mark in Atlantic 10 play.

In 2021, VCU received votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll for 11 straight weeks, and reached as high as No. 12 in the rankings. The Rams recorded three wins over ranked teams, and Celio Pompeu earned A-10 Midfielder of the Year honors.

Before returning to Richmond, Paulini spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Houston Baptist Univeristy. While with the Huskies, Paulini helped guide the program to 17 wins.

Prior to joining HBU, Paulini spent two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University as the Director of Operations where he assisted in planning and conducting daily training sessions, film breakdown and scouting report development.

Paulini, who was the first Ram to sign a professional contract under head coach Dave Giffard, signed with the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011, making his debut on April 9 against NSC Minnesota Stars. He played four seasons in Atlanta. After just one season with VCU, Paulini earned CAA All-First Team honors. He also earned All-Region recognition in each of his four collegiate seasons, after being a three-time honoree at Tusculum College.