Bob Winch enters his seventh season at the helm of the Bulldog soccer team. Before coming to The Citadel in 2006, the Enfield, Conn., native served 12 seasons as the head men’s soccer coach at the University of Central Florida.

In 2011 Winch coached the Bulldogs to a program-first victory over crosstown rival College of Charleston in the final game of the season and topped Appalachian State for the second consecutive year, and Vanessa Aponte was named first team All-Southern Conference.

Winch enters the 2012 season with a record of 29-78-9 at The Citadel, with 17 of those victories coming in the past two years.

Winch earned his second consecutive Southern Conference Coach of the Year honor in 2010 as he mentored The Citadel to an overall record of 12-8-1 and a conference record of 7-4 to land the Bulldogs in third place, the highest SoCon finish in program history. At the conclusion of that season, The Citadel made its first-ever appearance in the SoCon tournament, defeating Furman 2-1 in the opening round in a double overtime thriller that ended with a successful penalty kick.

In the same season the Bulldogs recorded program-first wins against Maine and Charleston Southern and program-first SoCon wins against Appalachian State, Davidson, Elon, Furman, Western Carolina and Wofford.

Winch was instrumental in the recruiting of Mariana Garcia, who earned numerous postseason accolades in 2010 including The Citadel’s first SoCon Player and Freshman of the Year award as well as a berth on the all-conference first team. Garcia, Aponte and Nicole Levermann were named to the all-freshman team, and Levermann and Amy Loughran were chosen as SoCon Players of the Week.  

In 2008, Winch went down in Bulldog history as the first women’s soccer head coach to win a Southern Conference game with a 2-1 win over Georgia Southern.

Prior to his arrival at The Citadel, Winch spent the 2005 season as an assistant with Auburn’s women’s soccer program. The Tigers finished second in the SEC West and made it to the championship game of the SEC tournament. Winch helped coach four SEC All-Tournament selections, including the tournament’s most valuable player.

Before joining the staff at Auburn, Winch served as the men’s head soccer coach at Central Florida from 1993-2004. He led the team to three consecutive Atlantic Sun Tournament titles while also making an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament three consecutive seasons. Winch was named the 2004 Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. Winch began his collegiate coaching career at Clemson where he was a men’s assistant coach from 1990-92.

Winch graduated from UNC Pembroke in 1986 and was a member of the soccer team, serving as a team captain from 1983-84. He went on to pursue a post-graduate education, receiving a master’s degree in education from Slippery Rock University in 1988.

Winch and his wife Janet are the parents of three children, Sara, Nicholas and Hayden.