Mark Berson
Mark Berson (born March 16, 1953) is an American retired soccer coach. He spent 43 seasons as head men's soccer coach at the University of South Carolina. He started his coaching career at The Citadel in 1976. Collegiate career. Berson graduated from Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey in 1971 and enrolled at the University of North Carolina. 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 has achieved a high level success under  his guidance and the soccer team has won three conference championships in only seven years of being in a conference. The program has made a total of twenty appearances in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. Personal life. Berson is married and has two children, Erin and Luke, who both went to the University of South Carolina.