Stony Brook University has named Ryan Anatol as its new men’s soccer coach.
Anatol comes to Stony Brook with a polished résumé that includes 10 years of coaching experience at college soccer’s highest level, most recently serving as an assistant coach at the University of South Florida.
“Building a nationally recognized soccer program is a high priority at Stony Brook, and the first step in that process was to identify the right person to lead our student-athletes,” Stony Brook Athletic Director Jim Fiore said in a statement. “I chose Ryan to lead our program because I am confident that with his coaching and playing experience, he will have an immediate impact on our student-athletes, alumni, faculty, staff and broader Stony Brook community.
“Coach Anatol is committed to creating an environment where our success on the field will equal the university’s extraordinary success off the field, and he has our full support in those efforts. I am thrilled that he has agreed to take on the challenge of building a consistently successful soccer program within the very competitive America East Conference and on the national level.”
“I would like to thank Jim Fiore, Donna Woodruff and everyone involved in the search,” Anatol added. “I am truly honored for the opportunity to be the head men’s soccer coach at Stony Brook University. My family and I are excited to be moving to Long Island, and I am looking forward to working at such a fine academic institution, building a program that the community will be proud of and leading it to success on and off the field.”
Anatol recently completed his sixth season as an assistant under head coach George Kiefer at USF, helping the Bulls to an impressive 74-33-18 (.664) record, five NCAA Tournament appearances and one BIG EAST championship. In a conference that has sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament in four of the last six seasons, the Bulls compiled a 36-18-10 (.641) mark in BIG EAST games during his tenure. Anatol helped guide the Bulls to the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, the program’s best-ever finish.
Anatol played his college soccer at USF from 1997-2000, serving as team co-captain his senior year. He was a member of back-to-back Conference USA championship teams in 1997 and ’98, advancing to the Elite Eight of the ’98 NCAA Tournament. He graduated from USF with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications in 2002 and then earned his masters degree in Sports Science/Coaching at Akron in 2010. Anatol also has international experience, playing for his native Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 20 National team from 1995-96.