April 28, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis men's soccer head coach Richie Grant announced the addition of Mark Franklin to his coaching staff on Tuesday morning. Franklin comes to Memphis after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the women's soccer team at Christian Brothers University for the past two seasons.

"I really admired Mark as a player (at CBU) and I am excited to be able to add a person with his competitive spirit and winning attitude to our program," Grant said. "We have given him a lot of responsibility in terms of coaching our defenders. Mark is already well engrained into the soccer community in Memphis. I have had the opportunity to get to know him both as a coach and a friend over the years he has been in Memphis and I really think he will be an asset to us in recruiting players to the program and promoting Memphis soccer throughout the community."

In his two years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Franklin helped the Lady Bucs to 18 wins, including a third-place finish in the Gulf South Conference in 2008. Last season he helped lead his defenders at CBU to the third-best goals against average in the conference.

Franklin, a former player at CBU from 2000-03, was an all-conference selection during three of his collegiate seasons and served as a team captain during his senior season in 2003. As a freshman, Franklin was a member of the Bucs' 2000 Gulf South Conference Championship squad that went on to make the Final 16 at the Division II Men's Soccer Tournament.

During his collegiate years the native of Boksburg, South Africa also took his talents on the soccer pitch to the Premier Development League as a member of the Memphis Express. During his two seasons with the Express, the squad finished first in the Mid-South Conference in 2002 and second in the conference in 2003.

Franklin, known throughout the Memphis soccer community as "Lefty", replaces Mat Santoro on the Tigers' staff. Santoro left the program earlier this year to take the head coaching position at Southern Indiana University in Evansville, Ind.