Oregon women’s soccer head coach Bill Steffen announced on Wednesday that he will resign from his position, effective immediately.
Steffen refused to comment on his resignation.
The 45-year-old has spent nine seasons on the Oregon bench and is the only head coach for the Ducks since they regained varsity status in 1996.
In his tenure, Steffen compiled a 49-107-14 record, including a nine-win season in 2003, which stands as the school record.
His resignation comes on the heels of a disappointing 2004 season, where the Ducks went 3-13-3 overall and 0-7-2 in the Pacific-10 conference. It was the first time the Ducks had been held winless in conference play and marked the worst overall record since 2002.
The injury bug sabotaged success for the Ducks all season. Oregon was without its biggest offensive threat Nicole Garbin for the season, while several other players’ seasons were cut short.
“Injuries definitely played a part,” Oregon junior midfielder Cristan Higa said. “And it affected us as a team.”
Prior to his arrival in Eugene, he served as women’s assistant coach at North Carolina for three years (1993-95), helping the Tar Heels to two NCAA national titles and a third trip to the national semifinals. He also assisted the nationally ranked men’s team in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1994 and 1995. He served as a head coach at Greensboro College (1991-93) and Lyndon State College (1984), and was an assistant coach at Duke (1993) and Furman (1989-91).

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