CWPA Coaches Corner: Fordham University Head Coach Brian Bacharach Discusses “Man-Up Advantage”
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Fordham University head varsity water polo coach Brian Bacharach discussed “Man-Up Advantage” in the third “Coaches Corner” webinar presented by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
The presentation has a purpose to help club teams have the resources & confidence to run productive practices and manage their programs throughout their season.
All presentations are open for collegiate club, varsity, fans, officials and the general public to view at no cost.
A 2006 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America selection and national champion at the University of California, Brian Bacharach has proven himself among the elite coaches in the nation over the past decade. After five years as an assistant coach for the Rams, one season as Associate Head Coach and co-Head Coach, Bacharach was promoted to Head Coach at Fordham University in May of 2020.
The work put in by Bacharach paid off in 2021, as Fordham captured its first-ever Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship and earned its first berth into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship, posting a school record 26 wins.
The Rams followed that with another MAWPC Championship season in 2022 and a second trip to the NCAA Championship. The team also tied the school record for wins in a season (26), went undefeated in league play at 16-0, and were ranked in the national top 20 all season long. Bacharach earned MAWPC Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season and was selected as the Elite Men’s Coach Award winner for the Northeast Zone by USA Water Polo, which put him as a candidate for the Monte Nitzkowski Award for National Elite Men’s Coach Award.
In 2023, Fordham picked up its third consecutive MAWPC Championship and NCAA Championship berth. The Rams once again went undefeated in MAWPC play and were ranked all season long, finishing the year at No. 12. Bacharach earned his second straight MAWPC Coach of the Year, as well as picking up the Coach of the MAWPC Championship award.
Since Bacharach joined the staff, the Rams have seen sustained success, posting seven winning seasons (2015-17, 2019, 2021-23), nine straight full seasons of at least 16 wins (2014-19, 2021-23), and a top 20 national ranking for the first time since the 1980s. The team has also been recognized by the NCAA for its Academic Progress Rate (APR) score eight times.
Prior to Fordham, Bacharach wrapped up a stint as an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount University, where he helped guide the Lions to the 2010 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Conference Championship.
Bacharach finished his career at Cal with 141 career goals, including a team-best two in the 2006 NCAA National Championship, which Cal defeated the University of Southern California (USC). It was the Bears 12th national title and Bacharach was one of the Bears’ team captains for the second consecutive season.
As a senior for the Bears in 2006, he was a ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America selection, as well as a Mountain Paciic Sports Federation (MPSF) All-Academic and a ACWPC All-Academic selection. For his career, he was a four-time MPSF All-Academic and ACWPC All-Academic selection.
After graduating Cal in the spring of 2007, Bacharach went on to play professionally in Australia for the Cronulla Sharks.
In the fall of 2007, he returned to De La Salle High School, this time as a teacher and coach. He taught math and psychology while also serving as assistant varsity coach for the boys’ water polo team through the spring of 2009. He helped De La Salle earn NCS Runner-up honors in 2008, while claiming EBAL League title in 2008 and 2009.
In addition to his teaching duties, Bacharach ran the men’s side of the Diablo Water Polo Club of Moraga, California, for three years (2007-09), leading the 18-under team to its three highest finishes in the program’s 12-year existence.
