Memphis men’s soccer head coach Richard Mulrooney was inducted into the Tennessee State Soccer Association Hall of Fame this weekend in Nashville. Mulrooney is in his fourth year as the Tigers’ head coach. He spent a 12-year career in Major League Soccer. He was already a member of his alma mater Creighton’s Hall of Fame. He is the first player to be inducted into TSSA’s Hall of Fame, as all others were inducted as coaches.
Mulrooney played at Creighton 1995-98 and received First-Team All-American honors in 1998. His success at the colligate level led to a professional career in soccer.
“I was fortunate enough that when I was a freshman in college, the MLS was started,” Mulrooney said. “The opening MLS season gave me the goal if I play as well in college, I could play professionally in the United States.”
Mulrooney was drafted third overall by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 1999 MLS Draft. He made 173 appearances for San Jose, from 1999 to 2004, recorded 44 assists and won two MLS Cups in 2001 and 2003.
He joined FC Dallas in 2005 before tearing his ACL in the same season. The following season, Mulrooney came back and was honored as the 2006 MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
Mulrooney’s success at the MLS level led him to represent his country on the U.S. Men’s National Team. The Memphis native made 14 appearances for Stars and Stripes from 2001 to 2004.
Mulrooney extended his MLS career and signed with the Houston Dynamo in 2007. He led the Dynamo to a MLS Cup victory in 2007, the third MLS Cup of his career. He stayed with Houston until the conclusion of his career at the end of the 2010 MLS season.
Mulrooney concluded his 11-year professional career with honors. He accumulated 295 appearances, scored eight goals and won three MLS Cups. Mulrooney was selected to the MLS All-Star game in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He was also selected as the Earthquakes’ team MVP in 2000.
The former MLS all-star began his coaching career in 2012 at Memphis as the assistant coach. In 2014, Mulrooney was named head coach for Memphis men’s soccer.
“I absorbed and learned everything my MLS coaches did on and off the field, especially the drills in practice,” Mulrooney said. “I apply what I have learned from my MLS coaches to coaching at Memphis.”
Richard Mulrooney leads his team in drills. The former Creighton star was named head coach of the Memphis men's soccer team in 2014.
Current Memphis Tigers men’s soccer coach Richard Mulrooney in action for the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2003 MLS Cup Final, he scored a goal in the Earthquakes’ triumph.
