Becky Burleigh, who has coached the Florida soccer team since its inception in 1994, announced on Twitter Saturday that she would be stepping away following the spring season.
Burleigh is the only coach in Florida soccer history and has picked up numerous accolades across her 25 seasons at the helm, including being named National Coach of the Year by three different outlets (National Soccer Coaches Association of America, College Soccer Weekly, Soccer Buzz) in 1998 after winning a national championship in just the program’s fourth year. She was named SEC Coach of the Year five times including 1996, 2000, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
Burleigh led the Gators to tournament berths in 22 of her 25 seasons holding the reigns. She has a 427-136-38 record with the program, a winning percentage of .742. Florida won 14 SEC regular-season titles and 12 conference tournaments under Burleigh, both easily the most in conference history. The next closest in each category is Tennessee with three and four, respectively. The Gators have five SEC tournament runner-ups as well.
The 1998 Florida soccer team had one of the best seasons in the history of UF athletics. With a 26-1 record, the most single-season wins in program history, Florida went 8-0 in conference play and defeated defending champion North Carolina 1-0 to claim the NCAA title in the team’s first NCAA College Cup appearance.
Burleigh had the worst record of her career in the shortened 2020 fall season, finishing on 2-7-1 and only reaching the second round of the SEC Tournament before being eliminated. It was one of only two seasons Florida failed to record double-digit wins (7-10-4 in 2018).
Burleigh began her coaching career at Berry College in Georgia for five seasons, winning two NAIA National Championships and finishing runner-up in another year.