South Carolina men’s soccer has gone through many changes since its institution. The program has left and joined conferences, seen many players come and go, and gone through ups and downs over the last four decades.
One thing has remained the same in the program's 43-year history: its head coach.
Head coach Mark Berson has been Gamecock men’s soccer’s one and only head coach since its founding in 1978. Over the years, Berson has built up quite an impressive resume, leading the Gamecocks to two College Cup appearances and 22 NCAA Tournament appearances. He has also become the winningest active coach in men’s college soccer.
However, after coaching at South Carolina for 42 seasons, Berson announced last year his decision to retire at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season.
“It’s been a wonderful, wonderful journey,” Berson said. “It’s been a joy and a privilege to work with so many student-athletes through the years, assistant coaches and administrators and people that have such a deep love for the university.”
But the beginning of Berson’s journey was not the average coach’s first few years. After coaching at The Citadel for two years, a young Berson arrived in Columbia to a program missing a few key pieces: a budget, stadium, uniforms and even players.
Berson then spent “long days and nights” building the program, recruiting players, establishing the team’s identity and having to sleep in his office from time to time.
Since that first year, Berson has been able to impact many players and other colleagues across his four-decade career, including South Carolina’s all-time leading scorer Doug Allison.
Allison played under Berson from 1984 to 1987 and coached alongside him for four years before departing for a head coaching job at Furman, where he remains today.
“He’s been very influential on a lot of people,” Allison said. “Very much a father figure to a lot of people, not just me. Very disciplined coach and obviously very successful coach so someone who's very important in my life in a lot of different ways.”
Allison went on to say Berson had a positive influence on him as a player and coach. Allison said he has followed his former head coach in the way he recruits, manages and coaches games.
Redshirt senior midfielder Kyle Gurrieri echoed similar sentiments in regards to his head coach, citing Berson’s support after Gurrieri transferred to South Carolina and through injuries during his sophomore and junior seasons.
“I’ve never had a coach like Coach Berson, regarding how much he cares for us and every player on the team,” Gurrieri said. “He truly does love us, and he motivates us, and he’s always there for everybody in the soccer program.”
Now that Berson is entering his final stretch of games this spring, he said he’s not sure what his future after coaching looks like, but he’s not planning on being inactive.
Despite the legacy Berson established as the Gamecocks’ head coach, he said all of his achievements and accolades belong to South Carolina, not just him.
“I’m just the guy that got to coach the team,” Berson said. “It's been an honor and a privilege to be here. Both of my son and my daughter graduated from the University of South Carolina, my wife graduated from the University of South Carolina, so it's just been a really wonderful journey. I’m really proud of the things we’ve accomplished, we’ve accomplished a lot.”