SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College men's soccer head coach Ralph Polson has announced his retirement after eleven seasons as head coach of the Terriers and 38 years in college coaching. Highlights of his tenure include 2009 and 2013 Southern Conference regular season championships, the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament Championship and the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
 
While at Wofford, he posted an 88-102-14 overall record. In the Southern Conference, he was 40-43-1. In the eleven SoCon seasons prior to his arrival, the Terriers only had nine total SoCon wins. Polson was named the 2009 Southern Conference Coach of the Year. His players earned 28 All-Southern Conference honors, 15 All-Freshman Team honors, 12 NSCAA All-South Region honors and two CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
 
In addition to his time at Wofford, he was the head coach at Presbyterian College from 1983 to 1999 and has an overall record of 284-205-41 as a head coach. He was the associate head coach at the College of Charleston from 2000 to 2007, winning the SoCon Championship in 2004.
 
"After much thought and discussion with my family and close friends, I believe it is time for me to retire from coaching," said Polson. "38 years successfully committed to one cause, one sport, is almost unheard of these days. I want to thank Richard Johnson, Mark Line, and Wofford College for that opportunity eleven years ago to come build a successful men's soccer program.  Wofford College has been good to me. I have a lot to be thankful for – a good job, supportive administration, good kids that have epitomized the word student-athlete, an unbelievable education for both of my children, and many lifetime friends. Wofford will always hold a special place in my heart. I will always be a Terrier!"
 
In only his second season at Wofford, the Terriers were 12-3-3 on the season, marking the second-most wins in school history and the most since 14 wins in 1994. In conference play, Wofford was 5-1-1 and claimed the regular season championship with a 4-3 win at Furman. The Terriers hosted the 2009 conference tournament at Snyder Field and defeated Elon 2-1 to win the tournament title. Wofford faced #5 UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and were defeated 1-0 in front of over 2,000 fans.
 
The 2012 Terriers posted only the second winning record in Wofford's Division I era.  The team fell to Elon 2-1 in the SoCon Championship game. During the 2013 season, Wofford claimed its second Southern Conference regular season title in school history with a 5-1 record.  The Terriers ended the 2014 campaign with an 11-6-1 mark overall, going 7-2-1 in conference play. In 2016 the Terriers continued their winning ways, finishing with a record of 12-7. The 12 wins matched the school record for wins which was set in 2009 and marked the fifth consecutive winning season for Wofford.

In the spring of 2008, Polson was appointed as the secretary for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (now known as United Soccer Coaches) and a member of the Executive Committee. He was elected to a three-year term as Vice-President of Conventions and Awards of the NSCAA in January 2009.  In January 2012, he became the 64th president of the NSCAA. He is currently a member of the United Soccer Coaches Board of Governors Advisory Council, Chairman of the Unites Soccer Coaches Senior College Men's National All-America, and Chairman of the NCAA Men's and Women's Soccer Playing Rules Committee.

From 2001 to 2014, he had been NSCAA Division I All-America Committee National Chairman and South Region Chairman. He is also treasurer of the Walt Chyzowych Memorial Fund.

Polson is a 1980 Erskine graduate. He was a member of the 1977 men's soccer team at Erskine which reached the NAIA national semifinals.

He and his wife, Susan, have a daughter, Megan '14 and a son, Ralph III '17, who both graduated from Wofford.
 
Assistant coach Jonathan Lagos will oversee the men's soccer program in an interim role until a decision is made on a new head coach.