Pittsburgh head coach makes impact with Nigerian National Team

The city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the West African country of Nigeria would not appear to have much in common. But a Venn diagram depicting the two would contain at least one intriguing overlap - a man named Randy Waldrum.

Waldrum, a lifelong soccer coach, made headlines as the sidelines leader of Nigeria’s Women’s National Team, an underdog that dramatically moved into the World Cup knockout round and pushed No. 4 England to penalty kicks in the round of 16 before falling. Although he lacked any links to Nigeria, Waldrum was appointed the head coach in 2022 and kept his main gig as coach of the University of Pittsburgh’s women’s team. Already respected for his accomplishments in Pittsburgh, Waldrum's ability to guide the Nigerian team to the round of 16 and stand alongside his players amid challenges posed by the Nigeria Football Federation has elevated his and the team's status as role models.

Waldrum also initially lacked a connection to Pittsburgh before soccer came calling. A Texas native, Waldrum was appointed head coach of Pitt in late 2017 and has since, in the words of Pitt Athletics, “engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in women’s college soccer.” In the five seasons he’s been in charge, the Panthers have qualified for the ACC playoffs and the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history after only winning five games total in their 2015 and 2016 seasons. Overall, Waldrum currently ranks 10th all-time in NCAA Division I coaching victories (431) and ranks 6th in wins among active NCAA coaches.

Waldrum, who is 66, has mostly coached women’s teams throughout a career that began in 1982, including stints at Baylor, Notre Dame, and in the National Women’s Soccer League. As such, he is all too familiar with the struggle women athletes and their programs face in attaining proper funding and support. Nigeria's Women’s Team is plagued by a national federation that withholds financial support, including failing to make proper payments to coaches and players and canceling a crucial training camp just weeks before the World Cup. In an arbitrary and last-minute decision, the federation also decided to ban the team’s assistant coach, Lauren Gregg, from attending the World Cup. Gregg said it was a retaliatory move for speaking out against the Federation’s lack of support. Gregg, who was the first-ever female assistant coach for any United States National Team and also served as an interim head coach of the USWNT, is a large part of the Super Falcons’ operation. Despite the ban, she has helped Waldrum during the World Cup by coaching remotely.

Waldrum, meanwhile, has publicly lambasted the federation for its actions in the leadup to the World Cup, and when asked about his outspokenness, he told the Associated Press that “I need to be a voice for the girls and fight for the things that they deserve to be getting.” For him, it is a battle both on and off the field. With Nigeria's World Cup over, Waldrum will return to Pittsburgh, where the Panthers are ranked 14th in the NCAA Division l preseason poll for 2023. Many recruits and transfers cite the coaching staff as a major factor in their decision to play for Pittsburgh, and in January 2023, Waldrum’s contract was extended through 2027.

Fittingly, one player Waldrum hopes to be counting on at Pittsburgh this season is Deborah Abiodun, a 19-year-old Nigerian Women’s Team striker. As a freshman at Pitt, she will make the overlap in that Venn diagram just a little bit larger.