Nov. 16, 2006

The contract of USC women's soccer head coach Jim Millinder was not renewed, ending his 11-year tenure with the Women of Troy, Trojan athletic director Mike Garrett announced today.

A search for his successor will begin immediately.

"We appreciate all that Jim did to advance the women's soccer program during his tenure," said Garrett. "However, at this time, we felt that a change was in the best interest of the program as we continue to strive to go to the next level."

Millinder, 47, compiled a 136-70-21 (.645) record at USC since taking over in 1996. His teams made eight NCAA tournament appearances, but never advanced past the second round, and won just one Pacific-10 title (a co-championship in 1998) while finishing fourth or lower six times.

The 2006 USC team was 11-5-5, placed fifth in the Pac-10 and lost in the NCAA second round to Stanford.

Before coming to USC, Millinder was the head women's coach at Loyola Marymount for two years (1994-95). The former professional soccer player also was the head women's (1990-93) and men's (1992-93) coach at El Camino Junior College, where he spent 12 seasons (1978-89) as an assistant with both programs.