Ray Leone, who previously coached at Harvard, was hired to be the Terrapins women’s soccer team’s new coach Wednesday, according to a press release.
Leone’s hiring was prompted by the athletic department asking former coach Jonathan Morgan to resign in November.
“This is the chance of a lifetime,” Leone said in the release. “I am grateful that [athletic director] Kevin Anderson and [senior assistant athletic director] Marcus Wilson have entrusted me with this opportunity. I have been fortunate to coach all over the country and now to come home to Maryland is really something I could never have imagined. I always rooted for Maryland as a kid and to now be the head coach is an amazing feeling.
In more than 20 years as a college head coach, Leone has won 282 games, which ranks 21st among active Division I head coaches. The Severna Park native was named conference coach of the year twice—in 2000 with Clemson and in 2014 at Harvard.
In his nine-year tenure with Harvard, Leone led the Crimson to five NCAA Tournament appearances and five Ivy League Championships. In contrast, Morgan led the Terps to just one NCAA Tournament appearance in his four-year stint.
Leone coached three Ivy League Player of Year honorees and four Ivy League Rookie of the Year winners. He also trained 22 first-team All-Ivy League selections and 16 second-team all-conference players.
“We are excited to welcome Ray to our Maryland Athletics family,” Anderson said in the release. “He has been incredibly successful at the highest levels of college soccer. Throughout his accomplished coaching career, he has been committed to successfully developing students both academically and athletically.”
After serving six seasons at Arizona State, where he led the Sun Devils to a school record No. 9 ranking in 2004 and coached nine All-Pac 12 honorees, Leone took the job with Harvard.
He served as an assistant at Clemson from 1994 to 2000, before being promoted to head coach in 2000. That season, he led the Tigers to a school-record 19 wins en route to an ACC regular season championship. In Leone’s seven seasons with Clemson, the Tigers finished with a top-15 national ranking each year.
Leone is the ninth head coach in program history and the third coach in six years.
“Ray Leone is a great coach and even better person,” Terps men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski said in the news release. “He is a relentless recruiter and tireless worker. He cares deeply about his players and the relationships he fosters with them go on for years beyond their playing careers. His record of success is undeniable.”
