Andrew Bordelon joins WashU after a stint as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Courtesy of Andrew Bordelon)

For the first time in 27 years, the Washington University men’s soccer program has a new head coach. Months after Joe Clarke announced his retirement in late November after nearly three decades at the helm, WashU Athletics announced Andrew Bordelon as his successor and the seventh head coach in the program’s history in a statement on March 7. 

Bordelon brings a wealth of experience coaching as both an assistant and head coach at numerous NCAA Division I, II, and III programs. He most recently worked as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the Division I University of Wisconsin-Madison. The coach, who stepped into the WashU role on Monday, March 18, knows that replacing WashU’s winningest men’s soccer coach will not be an easy feat.

“I do understand that I have big shoes to fill. I think Joe Clarke is a legend of the game, that’s certainly not lost on me,” he said. “My plan is to continue to build on what he has built here, and hopefully then take it to new heights as well. It will be tough replacing a legend and a gentleman who I have so much respect for, but at the same time, you know, I have to be myself and introduce philosophies and expectations that I believe in.”

Bordelon added that his first week on campus has shown him that Clarke has left the program in a good place.

“I see a group that is hungry, that is excited, and is willing to adapt to a new coach,” he said. “What Coach Clarke has done an amazing job of is that I see a team that is together, that has outstanding academic success. And now we’re hoping to add that next element of competing for championships.”

Sophomore Zach Susee, a forward and team captain, said that the team is already liking what they’re seeing from their new coach. 

“I think just the energy at practice has been the biggest thing so far,” he said when asked what has stood out. “I think [the] guys have been really big fans of the first few practices and, you know, what we’ve been getting up to…He seems like a great guy, and we’re really excited to have him.”

Susee added that the transition from the 70-year-old Clarke to the considerably younger Bordelon brings a new level of intensity to the program.

“A little bit of young energy is definitely nice to have,” he said.

Bordelon first became a head coach at Westminster College when he was just 24 years old. (Courtesy of Andrew Bordelon)

Susee and the squad are not the only ones excited about what Bordelon will bring to the squad. Director of Athletics Anthony Azama is confident that the Athletic Department has found the right man for the job. According to Azama, the search committee was looking for someone with “high character, low ego, [and] high output” and “a track record of developing young people,” and Bordelon ticked all of those boxes. 

“Ultimately, I want us to have a program that everybody, when they graduate, they walk outside and take tremendous pride in and they have relationships that will last forever from people who were with this program,” Bordelon said when asked about his coaching philosophy. “So for me, it’s commitments, it’s relationship-driven, and it’s really based on communication.”

Bordelon’s perspective as a coach is shaped not only by his 14 years of coaching experience, but also by his time as a player and his love of the game. Throughout college, Bordelon played as a midfielder for Division II Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, which is also where he got his start coaching. 

“I always loved the game; I was pretty inseparable from the game,” he said. “I didn’t necessarily go into college thinking that I would be a college coach, but after my last fall, about halfway through, I knew that was the direction I had.”

After three years as an assistant coach at Drury, Bordelon became the head coach of Westminster College at the age of 24, where he coached from 2013-2016. During his time there, he led his team to the program’s first ever conference title and its first three NCAA Division III tournament appearances. Bordelon also coached at Stevenson University, another Division III squad, during their 2017 season.

From there, Bordelon moved to the Division I level, serving as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Northern Illinois University (NIU) from April 2017 to January 2022 under head coach Ryan Swan, who had been the head coach at Drury while Bordelon was both a player and coach. During his tenure at NIU, the team set program highs for wins in a season (15) and national ranking (No. 21), and had multiple players drafted by Major League Soccer (MLS) squads.

Bordelon spent the last two seasons as the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he led recruiting efforts on the Big 10 side. Bordelon’s experience as a recruiter was one of the factors that made him stand out as a great fit for WashU.

“[He’s] somebody that’s willing to take on recruiting at every one of his stops, and do well in that,” Azama said. “I think, to be here, you’ve got to be able to recruit well.”

On the pitch, Bordelon likes to employ an aggressive style of play and said he draws inspiration from Premier League managers like Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp, and Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, Bordelon’s favorite team to watch.

“We want to dictate the games on our terms, so we want to advance the ball into the opposition’s half. We want to play there [and] we don’t want to let them out. So ideally, we sort of suffocate them and we dictate the game by being aggressive and playing in the opposition half, ultimately leading to creating as many goal-scoring opportunities as possible,” he said.

Off the field, Bordelon is a family man and is excited to be back in the midwest with his wife Andrea, five-year-old son, and two-year-old daughter. 

While the return to a head coaching position, role at a new school, and responsibility of replacing the void of a legendary coach will not be easy, Bordelon is looking forward to what’s to come for the WashU men’s soccer program.

“I’m excited, very excited,” he said. “It’s something I’m very fired up for, and it’s something I’m very grateful for.”