Aubri Williamson enters her first season as an assistant women's soccer coach at Samford. Her hiring was officially announced by Head Coach Todd Yelton on July 8, 2022.
“We’re really excited about Aubri coming to join our staff,” Yelton said. “When I started the search, there were some things that were very important to me, and Aubri checked every box. She’s a good person, hard worker and really cares about the players that she interacts with and wants to have an impactful relationship with them.”
Williamson comes to Samford after two seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Methodist University, working for Head Coach Chris Petrucelli, who is now the head coach of the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars. While at SMU, she served on a staff that was named the 2021 United Soccer Coaches Region Staff of the Year. The 2021 SMU team hosted and defeated 21st-ranked Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the program’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2006. The Mustangs were ranked for nine-straight weeks, including reaching a high of 14th, the best ranking for the program since 2000.
She coached the midfielders and forwards for the Mustangs, mentoring five all-AAC players and two all-region players. In addition to her coaching duties, she was also involved with film review, recruiting, travel, training, ordering equipment and team gear and off-the-field team culture building and development.
“I am incredibly thankful to Todd for giving me the opportunity to coach at this prestigious university,” Williamson said. “Throughout the interview process it has become evident that Samford is a high achieving university filled with driven student-athletes who are empowered by a staff that truly cares for them. I am excited and honored to be a part of it.”
Prior to her time at SMU, Williamson spent one year at the University of Miami as a volunteer assistant coach. While with the Hurricanes, she worked one-on-one with student-athletes, focusing on wellness, the psychological aspect of the game and player development. She also assisted with on and off-campus recruiting, creating travel itineraries, building scouting reports and executing ID and youth camps. During practices, Williamson helped coach the technical and fitness portions.
Before joining the Hurricanes, Williamson spent a summer playing with Einherji in Vopnafjordu, Iceland, where she also served as the associate head coach. In her role, she planned training sessions and made game time decisions and substitutions, helping to lead the program to its best season in club history. In her time competing on the pitch, Williamson finished with a club records 19 goals and 13 assists, while being named to the league’s top-11.
“She’s had some amazing experiences playing abroad in Iceland, as well as working with Chris Petrucelli,” Yelton said. “It was clear to us from the start that she would be a great fit for our program, as we look to build off of last year’s success and chase another SoCon title.”
As a student-athlete, Williamson led the Florida Institute of Technology as a three-year captain, while earning both Fall Sunshine State Conference honor roll and FIT honor roll recognition five times from 2013 to 2017. Playing in 38 games and notching 25 starts, she closed out her collegiate career with 20 goals and 11 assists, scoring a team-leading 14 goals as a sophomore. During her sophomore campaign, Williamson tallied six game-winning goals and earned All-SSC second team honors.
During the 2017 season, she joined the FIT staff as a volunteer graduate assistant, leading the Panthers to their first Sunshine State Conference championship. In her role, she marketed and organized registration for ID camps, coordinated road trips and kept the team’s social media pages up to date and interactive.
Prior to enrolling at FIT, she played for the Weston Football Club and Archbishop McCarthy High School team.
A native of Davie, Fla., Williamson graduated from Florida Institute of Technology in 2016 with a Bachelor's degree in sports management and a minor in athletic coaching, before earning her Master’s in Business Administration in 2017.
