Tom Fitzgerald (March 14, 1951 – December 4, 2004) was an American soccer coach. Fitzgerald played soccer at

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other par ...

before transferring to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

his junior season. He played soccer at USF and he graduated in 1974. In 1978, Jesuit High School in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

hired Fitzgerald as the school's head coach. From 1978 to 1981, he led the team to two district championships and a 35–11–6 record. He was hired by the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

as an assistant coach in 1981 and became the team's head coach in 1987. He led the team to five Sunshine State Conference championships and the 1994

NCAA Men's Division II Soccer Championship The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship is the annual tournament held by the NCAA to determine the top men's Division II college soccer program in the United States. It has been played annually since 1972; prior to then, all teams competed ...

over Oakland University. During Fitzgerald's nine years as head coach, he compiled a 132–32–11 (75% winning percentage) record. In 1996, the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

of Major League Soccer hired Fitzgerald as an assistant coach. When the Crew head coach

Timo Liekoski Timo Liekoski (born June 30, 1942) is a Finnish soccer coach who managed teams in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Indoor Soccer Association and Major League Soccer. He currently holds a variety of coach ...

resigned after a 6–16 start to the season, the team promoted Fitzgerald to head coach. He led the team to a 9–1 record over the last 10 games of the season. In 1998, he took the Crew to the U.S. Open Cup where they lost to the Chicago Fire. When he was fired six games into the 2001 season, Fitzgerald had posted a 70–67–7 record. In March 2002, Fitzgerald returned to the college ranks, this time with the Division I

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

.Tom Fitzgerald Named UCLA Head Men's Soccer Coach
In his first season at UCLA, Fitzgerald led the team to an

NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champi ...

. He became the first

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I coach to win a title in his first year with a program. He was also just the third coach to win both Division I and II NCAA titles. He was named the 2002 NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year. In 2004, Fitzgerald left UCLA to rejoin the University of Tampa where he began the season 6–9–1. Tom's main motivation for moving back to Tampa was to be closer to his family. On December 4, 2004, Fitzgerald was driving his

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

to scout players at a youth soccer festival in Bradenton, Florida when he was struck by an

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

. Fitzgerald initially seemed to be all right, calling his wife after the accident. He was taken to

Tampa General Hospital Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is a 1,041-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on Davis Island in Tampa, Florida, servicing western Florida and the greater Tampa Bay region. TGH is one of the region's only univers ...

, but

hemorrhaging Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...

occurred and Fitzgerald died during surgery to repair his torn

aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes o ...

. A memorial stone for Fitzgerald was unveiled at

Columbus Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 ...

on April 2, 2005.

References

External links

ESPNSoccernet.com: Former Crew coach Fitzgerald dies

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Tom 1951 births 2004 deaths American soccer coaches American soccer players Columbus Crew coaches Motorcycle road incident deaths Road incident deaths in Florida South Florida Bulls men's soccer players UCLA Bruins men's soccer coaches Columbus Crew non-playing staff Major League Soccer coaches Soccer players from Florida Association footballers not categorized by position