Wheaton College (MA)

Bryan Waggoner was named the fifth head coach in program history in January of 2018 after serving as head coach at Randolph College for the previous 11 seasons. 

In six seasons as head coach at Wheaton, Waggoner has compiled an overall record of 53-38-21 record. Under Coach Waggoner, the Lyons have advanced to the Semifinals of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship Tournament four times.

The Lyons mentor has built a program in Norton that has been among the best in the region year in and year out. Wheaton has been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches National Coaches Poll in both 2021 and 2024 and was slotted as high as No. 21 in 2024. The Lyons appearance in the national survey was their first since 2015. Under Waggoner, Wheaton posted its highest win total in 2021 since 2016 and held the distinction of being the only non-New England Small College Athletic Conference school to defeat National Champion Connecticut College when they edged the No. 6 Camels, 2-1. The year was capped by three All-Region selections. The following season, he led Wheaton to a 9-5-6 mark and an appearance in the NEWMAC semifinals. The team was unbeaten in 10 of its last 12 contests, including a tie with Williams College, which eventually advanced to play for the National Championship. The tie gave the Lyons the distinction of being the only non-NESCAC squad to remain unbeaten against two of the four teams to have played in the national title game in the past two years. Wheaton finished the season ranked third in the region by the NCAA in both 2022 and 2023.

As a testament to his ability to develop talent since his arrival in Norton, Waggoner has seen 12 of his players earn All-Region honors, including four First Team selections in addition to a pair of NEWMAC Athlete of the Year honorees and 16 All-Conference recipients.

Waggoner built the Randolph men's soccer program from scratch when the college transitioned to coeducation in 2007. During his time at Randolph, he guided the WildCats to an appearance in the highly regarded Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament every season since entering the league in 2008. In 2011, he helped lead Randolph to the school's first-ever ODAC championship in a men's sport and its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance for a men's athletics program. The WildCats won a school-record 18 games and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 under Waggoner, leading to the mentor being named the 2011 ODAC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year.

In 2013, Waggoner was named the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSIDA) Coach of the Year, as Randolph put together a 17-2-1 mark, while winning the ODAC regular-season crown. In addition, the WildCats were ranked as high as No. 15 nationally in both the United Soccer Coaches (USC) and D3soccer.com polls. That squad became the first team in ODAC history to win 10 league games in a men's soccer season. In 2015, the WildCat's finished second in the ODAC with a 7-1-3 record as part of an overall 13-5-3 record, which included an 11-game unbeaten streak. The campaign was highlighted by a trip to the ODAC Championship game.

Prior to Randolph, Waggoner spent three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Richmond. Waggoner also spent time as the Head Coach at Douglas S. Freeman High School in Richmond, Va., where he compiled a 24-11-8 record over three seasons. In addition, he served as the assistant men's and women's soccer coach for a season at Linfield College in Oregon. 

At the club level, Waggoner served as the technical director of the Virginia Capital Area Soccer League, where he analyzed, evaluated, and trained teams throughout the club system. In addition, he was the Head Coach of the Under-18 Boy's Elite team, guiding it to five tournament championships and a Final Four standing in the State Cup.

Waggoner is a 2002 graduate of the University of Richmond and was a four-year letterwinner for the Spiders.  He served as team Captain his senior year under Head Coach Jeff Gettler, who coached former Wheaton men's soccer coach Matt Cushing at the University of Massachusetts.  Waggoner earned the Coaches Award for his leadership skills his senior season and graduated from Richmond with a degree in Sociology.