Coaching Staff
Head Coach
Rudy Pompert, eighth year
pomperra@buffalostate.edu
Assistant Coaches
Brendan Murphy, Kevin Brenner
Rudy Pompert enters his eighth season as the head coach of the Buffalo State men's soccer team, amassing a record of 42-72-10 overall and leading the team to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the early-1980s.
Pompert accepted the men’s position in 2000 following three years as the bench boss of the women’s team. Pompert's best season to date came in 2004, when the Bengals went 11-5-1 and made a trip to the SUNYAC playoffs the ended with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to New Paltz in double-overtime. During his tenure on the women’s side, he accumulated a 17-34-1 record and helped the team reach its highest win total in 13 years in 1998.
Pompert, a native of the Netherlands, worked with the world renowned soccer club Ajax Amsterdam. He also played semi-professional and top amateur soccer in the Netherlands, and competed with the Dutch national college team from 1990 through 1993. He first came to the Western New York area while he was goaltender in the 1993 World University Games in Buffalo, New York.
Upon arriving in Buffalo in 1995, Pompert coached the Buffalo Fillies W-League women’s soccer team. At the time, the W-League was the highest level of women’s soccer in the United States.
Pompert possesses a National A-License of the United States Soccer Federation and an Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association. During offseason, he heads up the Buffalo State Goalie Camp in July and Soccer Goalie Promotion Day in April. Each are among the area’s premier soccer camps for boys and girls. Pompert also works as the Director of Coaching for the Amherst Soccer Club.
Rudy lives with his wife Carol, and son, Wyatt in the Buffalo suburb of Snyder.
Assistant Coach Brendan Murphy
Murphy boasts an impressive soccer resume, returning for his second season as the team's goalie coach. A four-year letterwinner at St. Lawrence, he was the starting goalie on the Saints’ 1999 National Championship team. After college, he played two seasons in the Professional Development League and A-League soccer. The Williamsville native has his National B Coaching License and has coached high school and youth soccer since graduating from college in 2002. He has a bachelor’s degree in English literature and is pursuing his master’s in early childhood education from the University at Buffalo.
Assistant Coach Kevin Brenner
Brenner enters his third year as an assistant on the Bengals’ staff after wrapping up his three-year playing career at Buffalo State in 2004. A two-year captain with the Bengals, he was a key contributor at both ends of the field after transferring from Cortland. Brenner has been active as an instructor in the Buffalo State Summer Soccer Camps. He also serves as a head coach with the U16 boys' team in the Amherst Soccer Association and is the scouting director for the Queen City Football Club of the Professional Development League. Brenner holds a National D Coaching License. A native of Plattsburgh, he earned his bachelor’s degree in business management with a minor in business economics. He is single and resides in Buffalo.
