National Soccer Coaches Association Coach of the Year (1984, 1985, 1988, 1995) South Carolina Youth Soccer Association's Hall of Fame (1992) Independent Coach of the Year (1998) Conference USA Coach of the Year 2011
Berson graduated from Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey in 1971 and enrolled at the University of North Carolina.[1] On the Tar Heel soccer team, he played midfielder his freshman year and goalie the final three years. Berson graduated in 1975 with a degree in journalism and later earned a master's of education degree in sport administration in 1977 from Ohio University.
Coaching career
Berson took a position as an assistant coach on The Citadel's men's soccer program in 1976. A year later, he became the head coach and guided the Bulldogs to their best record ever with an 11–5 mark. In 1978, Berson accepted the head coaching position at the University of South Carolina. He led the Gamecocks to a 13–3–1 record in the program's first season and in the second season they obtained a spot in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. The program achieved a high level success under his guidance and his teams won three conference championships in only seven years of being in a conference. The program has made a total of 22 appearances in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, all under his direction. Berson coached three players who appeared in the World Cup (Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff and Brad Guzan) for Team USA, spanning a total of 21 years.
When he retired after the 2021 season, he had the most wins of any active coach in NCAA Division I with 522 career victories.
gamecocksonline.com - Men's Soccer - 2023 South Carolina Men's Soccer History & Records - Head Coaching Records
Overall
522
266
76
22 NCAA Appearances
References
^Mark Berson profile, CSTV. Accessed November 5, 2007. "A 1971 graduate of Summit (N.J.) High School, Berson attended the University of North Carolina and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1975."