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Tony Pacella
Tony Pacella enters his ninth season as the head men's soccer Coach of the University of the South in 2022.
He is the 11th coach in the program's history, and he has complied a 53-62-11 career record with the Purple and White.
Along with his duties with the men's soccer program, he also oversees Sewanee's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
In eight seasons with the Tigers, he has coached 23 All-Conference honorees and 107 to the league's Academic Honor Roll.
Returing to a normal capacity in 2021, Sewanee posted an 8-8-2 overall record and made it to the semifinals of the SAA Tournament thanks to the help of an own goal by 2-seeded Rhodes in the quarterfinals.
Four Tigers were named to the All-Conference Team and a program-best 18 student-athletes were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
Despite playing just two matches in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tigers recorded an unbeaten season. 11 student-athletes were honored on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
The 2019 campaign for Sewanee was a masterful one for Pacella and the program. The team's 11 overall wins and five conference dubs are each the highest in the Pacella-era. Sewanee's 11-5-1 record is one of the best finishes for the program since 2004. Additionally, the No. 3 seed the Tigers secured in the SAA Tournament ties a conference-best.
Pacella also earned recognition from the coaches as he was named the SAA Coach of the Year for the first time in the history of the conference and the first since 2001.
Sewanee captured five All-SAA selections, the most the Tigers have placed on an All-Conference Team since the SAA was formed in 2012. Additionally, two were named All-Region.
The success did not stop on the pitch, as a program-best 17 athletes were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll, with two players were listed on the USC Scholar All-Region First Team laurels.
The 2018 season saw the squad finish with a 7-9-1 record and a quarterfinal finish in the SAA Tournament. Three players were named All-Conference for Sewanee, and Kyle Johnston earned an All-Region selection by the USC.
The 2017 season was the best for the men's soccer program, finishing at the .500 mark for the first time since 2013 when the team finished 8-8-2. Finishing as the No. 3 seed in the SAA Tournament, it is the highest finish in Sewanee's short history with the conference.
Winning four conference matches is the most since the 2011 season, and the team finished the season with a conference winning percentage over .500 for the first time since 2003 (.667).
Four Tigers were honored All-Conference during the 2017 season.
Increasing his win total each season, Pacella recorded a 7-10-2 record in 2016, and two were named to the All-SAA Team.
In his first two seasons (2015-16), Pacella immediately raised the bar with one of the toughest schedules in the southeast. Over the past two years, Sewanee has won 11 games and have close in others with a combined 12 losses by a single goal.
In 2015, the Tigers finished 6-12-2 overall and the No. 8 seed in the SAA Tournament.
In the quarterfinals, the Tigers defeated No. 1 seeded Oglethorpe 0-0 (4-2 PKs). A day later, Sewanee topped rival Rhodes when Ramsey Seagle ripped in a late shot in the 87th minute.
Unfortunately, Sewanee's magical run ended when No. 2 seeded Millsaps won on its home field by a 2-1 decision in the championship match.
In Pacella's first year in 2014, the team earned a 5-10-2 record. Pacella came to Sewanee from Amherst College, where he served as the assistant men's soccer coach for the Jeffs (now called Mammoths).
At Amherst, Pacella helped the program to a 35-1-5 record during his time as an assistant. During that time, Amherst also won back-to-back NESCAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
Under Pacella's leadership, Amherst earned two consecutive trips to the NCAA Quarterfinals and was ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA poll in 2013.
Individually, the Jeffs boasted eight All-Americans, 18 All-NESCAC Academic selections, and 10 All-NESCAC honors.
Prior to his time in Amherst, Mass., Pacella served as the assistant men's soccer coach at Temple University in Philadelphia
A native of Sinking Spring, Pa., he was a four-year starter and two-time all-conference selection at Elizabethtown College, where he graduated in 2011 with a degree in business administration and a concentration in finance.
He served as the men's soccer team's captain during his junior and senior seasons, earning the school's Best Male Athlete honor in 2011. In addition to his all-conference recognition, Pacella was a two-time NSCAA Mid-Atlantic All-Region selection.
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