Pat Ercoli

Pat Ercoli (born 30 November 1957) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who currently works as President/COO and Head Coach of the Rochester Rhinos.

Career

Ercoli played club football for the Rochester Lancers and the Jacksonville Tea Men in the North American Soccer League.^[1] He played for the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1985 to 1986.

International career

Ercoli earned one cap for the national team in 1980.^[2]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Ercoli coached the Rochester Rhinos from 1996 to 2004. During this tenure as coach, he quickly turned the A-League team into a juggernaut in the minor league sports industry. The club was a league-leader in attendance from 1996–2004 and was named one of the Top Five Minor League Sports Franchises by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. Their success at the gate was also matched by the teams’ three league titles (1998, 2000 and 2001) and the 1999 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup title, in which they defeated four MLS teams en route to the historic championship. In December, 2004, Ercoli was dismissed as the team's head coach. On 29 October 2009 he returned to Rochester Rhinos and was appointed as the General Manager. Since taking over as General Manager in 2009, Ercoli was appointed the team's president in charge of all day-to-day activities.^[3] In his three seasons leading the business operations of the Rhinos, the team has seen its average attendance drop to its lowest numbers in franchise history. Following a 1-6-1 start to the Rhinos' 2013 season, on May 19 Ercoli was named Head Coach, replacing Jesse Myers.^[4]

Ercoli was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame in 2002.

References