Penn women's soccer coach Darren Ambrose resigns, leaves for Vanderbilt

Penn women’s soccer coach Darren Ambrose, one of Penn’s longest tenured head coaches and the winningest coach in program history, resigned to take the head coaching position at Vanderbilt.

Ambrose coached the Quakers for 15 seasons, never posting a losing record in any year of his tenure while winning 148 games and the program’s three Ivy League titles.

"Leaving Penn is the most difficult decision I have had to make to this point in my life," Ambrose said in a press release. "The student-athletes, the coaches and the administration have been a major part of my life, both professionally and personally, for the past 15 years. I will leave behind a huge part of me as I make the transition. Penn and its athletic department will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Ambrose went 148-71-35 overall, while finishing 54-34-17 in 105 career Ivy matches. The program’s most recent Ivy League title came in 2010 while the Red and Blue finished 8-5-3 with a 3-3-1 Ivy record this season.

Ambrose’s final match as head coach was a 3-2 victory over Princeton, coincidentally the final game of Princeton head coach Julie Shackford’s 20-years at Princeton (she retired).

"I am proud of how far the program has come since I arrived in 2000, and I know that the future for both the women's soccer program and Penn Athletics is in great hands with [Athletic Director] Dr. Grace Calhoun at the helm. I wish nothing but the best for Penn and all of its athletic programs,” Ambrose said.

A national search will now begin for Ambrose’s replacement. This will be the second head coaching search under Calhoun after she hired wrestling coach Alex Tirapelle in July.

"We are saddened to see Coach Ambrose leave, but at the same time excited for him, his family, and this new opportunity," Calhoun said in the release. "Darren has put together one of the outstanding careers among our coaches, and he has been a leader of the coaches group. On the field, his teams were fun to watch and almost always in the mix for Ivy League titles. Off the field, his student-athletes thrived in the classroom and as campus leaders, an accomplishment of which he was most proud.

"Darren is a major reason Penn is one of the premier women's soccer programs in the Ivy League today. We will miss him, but we wish him well as he makes the move to another outstanding institution and the SEC."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.