Richmond head coach Jeff Gettler has made Richmond one of the premier programs in the Atlantic 10, leading the Spiders to four Atlantic 10 Tournament berths in seven years in the league.

In 2006, Gettler had the Spiders playing on the final day of the regular season for their second Atlantic 10 Regular-Season Championship in four years. Richmond finished the conference slate in third place with just one loss, won 10 games for the eighth time in his now 13 seasons at Richmond, and reached the conference semifinals. The Spiders gave eventual champion Rhode Island all it could handle in a 1-0 semifinal loss.

Entering his 14th season, Gettler looks to continue the program's success and bring the Spiders' to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in his tenure.

In 2003, Gettler directed the Spiders into the national rankings, led them to their third-consecutive appearance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and to the NCAA Tournament. Richmond went undefeated in conference action, marking the program's longest unbeaten streak of 11 matches.

Gettler began his stint at Richmond in 1995 and has compiled a 116-89-36 record over 12 seasons for a winning percentage of .566, the highest among Richmond's five all-time head coaches. Gettler strung together a school-record eight consecutive winning seasons from 1996-2003. The men's soccer program has enjoyed nine seasons with 11-or-more victories, five of them coming under Gettler's guidance. Gettler has led the team to eight 10-win seasons.

In 1996, just his second year with the Spiders, Gettler's squad posted a 13-4-4 mark and was followed by a record of 9-7-4 in 1997, setting the stage for a breakthrough 1998 campaign. That year, Gettler directed the Spiders to a 14-7-2 mark, the second most wins in program history. The team won the Colonial Athletic Association Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990. In 2001, its inaugural season in the Atlantic 10 Conference, Gettler led the Spiders to a 13-6-2 record and 8-3-0 conference mark, but fell in the A-10 Championship finals on penalty kicks after a 0-0 four-overtime draw.

Year after year, Gettler challenges his players by scheduling the top teams in the nation. The 1998 team played the fifth toughest schedule in the country, and the 1999 slate ranked as the 15th most difficult in the country. In the past three years the Spiders played nationally ranked North Carolina and defeated No. 16 ranked Virginia Tech.

"We have always tried to schedule the best programs in the country for our non-league games," says Gettler. "This gives us an early indication of where our players are and where we need to be at the end of the year. It serves to harden and prepare us, both psychologically and tactically, for conference play."

Gettler's coaching career is about more than victories though, as the coach has been instrumental in molding his players into some of the top performers in the region, and in America. Since the 2000 season, he has developed two All-Americans, 28 all-conference performers and numerous all-region honorees.

Gettler had the privilege to coach consecutive conference Player of the Year honorees. In 2000, Craig Ziadie was named the CAA Player of the Year and in 2001 Shawn Alexander was selected as the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year. Both were named All-Americans, honored as the Richmond Male Athlete of the Year and drafted by professional soccer clubs following their years of achievement. Ziadie was taken in the third round by D.C. United (MLS) and Alexander was a first round selection of the Richmond Kickers (USL-A).

Eric Sciocchetti, a 2008 graduate from Richmond, became the third conference Player of the Year Gettler has coached at Richmond. Sciocchetti earned the 2006 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year award.

Gettler, who holds a master's degree in education from Boston University and a bachelor of arts from Lycoming, has also helped his assistants to advance their coaching careers. The head coach has helped 14 of his previous assistants obtain head coaching positions over the years.

Gettler holds numerous licenses and certificates and has years of international experience. Among Gettler's credentials are a U.S. Soccer A license, FA International Coaching certificate (Bisham Abbey, England), KNVB certificate (Zeist, Holland), DFB International Trainer-Kongress (Aachen, Germany) and a CBD diploma (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). In addition, he has attended the B license coaching course in Toronto, Canada and the English FA's Manager's and Coach's course in Cheshire, England. He has also spent time at every World Cup and European Championship since 1990, analyzing tactics, attending national team training sessions and meeting with coaches.

"I've always felt that I need to keep up-to-date on the latest advancements and changes in the sport," Gettler said. "By seeing top matches, visiting with top coaches and attending outstanding training sessions, I am able to continuously re-ignite my passion for coaching and the game of soccer."

With Getter's guidance, Richmond was catapulted into the national spotlight after hosting the NCAA Soccer Championships for four seasons (1995-98).

"Those four Championships were some of the most successful events for men's college soccer and afterwards everyone in the country knew of our men's soccer program," Gettler said. "It gave our soccer program national exposure and people were aware we had taken the Championships on and had done well."

With his two NCAA Tournament appearances, two conference titles, a consistent top-notch schedule and All-American performers, Gettler has established a name for the Richmond men's soccer program.

Gettler resides in Richmond with his wife Lori. The couple has two daughters, Carly (24), a Richmond graduate who lives in Washington, D.C., and Abbey (22), a Gettysburg College graduate who lives in Denver, Colo.

All-Time Coaching Records At Richmond (entering 2006)

Name	Years	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Jeff Gettler	1995-present	116	89	36	.566
Tim O'Sullivan	1983-94	115	108	25	.514
Eric Robinson	1978-82	21	54	5	.280
Bill Horan	1976-77	4	18	2	.208
Randy Nelson	1975	0	8	0	.000
Totals	31 years	256	277	68	.480

Gettler's Career Record (entering 2007)

Overall	244	241	69	.503