Duke women's soccer's Erwin van Bennekom hired as Indiana head coach

Duke women’s soccer associate head coach Erwin van Bennekom has already had his last game on the Blue Devil sideline.

Van Bennekom will be leaving Durham to take over the head coaching position at Indiana, the team announced in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. Van Bennekom came to Duke with five years of coaching experience, coaching the Alabama women’s team at the college level and Sky Blue FC at the professional level. He was an assistant coach for the Blue Devils since 2015 and a part of the program's best years in school history. 

He helped Duke to a 13-3-2 NCAA tournament record and a 29-6-5 conference record during the past four seasons, including three straight top-three finishes in the ACC, a 2017 ACC regular-season title and an appearance in the 2017 Final Four.

"Erwin is one of the top minds in the game. He a brilliant teacher of the game, his knowledge of the game is outstanding and his ability to change throughout the course of a game is fantastic,” Duke head coach Robbie Church told IUHoosiers.com. “I've been around a long time and I know a lot of coaches and he's one of the top coaches I've ever worked with…I think Erwin will lead [Indiana] to great heights."

The Hoosiers were 8-8-2 last season and finished 11th overall in the Big Ten with a 4-7-0 conference record. Van Bennekom will look to turn around a program that has not had a winning season since 2013. 

"This is a tremendous honor. IU is a destination job," van Bennekom told IUHoosiers.com. "I want to thank Duke Director of Athletics Dr. [Kevin] White, Deputy Director of Athletics Dr. [Chris] Kennedy and head women's soccer coach Robbie Church for all their support and guidance over the years. It was a privilege to work with the student-athletes at Duke University."