Simon Brown, who led William Penn men's soccer to its first ever conference championship and the NAIA national runner-up spot in 2024, joined Wisconsin men's soccer as an assistant coach in spring 2025.
Brown joined the Badgers after eight years with William Penn (Iowa), serving as associate head coach from 2017 to 2019, before leading the team as head coach from 2020 through 2025.
Brown recorded a 68-31-11 mark as head coach and 107-49-13 overall coaching record with Statesmen men's soccer. This past season, Brown led WPU on a historic postseason run that led to their first Heart of America Athletic Conference championship and an NAIA Championship Final, where they fell in penalty kicks.
The national runner-up season included program records for games won (20), goals scored (66), shutouts (12), lowest scoring average allowed (0.81 goals per game).
At William Penn, Brown led his players to six All-America honors, 19 All-Heart performances, and a Heart Freshman of the Year. He also led the Statesmen to five-straight national tournament appearances.
Brown started his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant with Hastings College, coaching the women's goalkeepers his first year and the forwards in his second year. He also served as a volunteer for the men's program, helping that squad capture the 2016 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship.
During his time serving William Penn men's soccer, Brown was also Ankeny High School head girls soccer coach, leading the program to the 2019 state title and a 2021 state runner-up finish. He was named United Soccer Coaches State Coach of the Year in 2019. He's also served as an adjunct professor at William Penn since 2018 in the kinesiology and sports management departments teaching fitness and wellness, as well as theory of coaching soccer.
Brown graduated Ashford University in Iowa with degrees in finance and business administration before going on to achieve a master's degree in physical education from Hastings College.
During his collegiate playing days, the Dublin, Ireland, native, served as team captain for the 2013 Ashford team that reached the NAIA national semifinals and the 2012 team that reached the tournament. He was a Capitol One Academic All-American.
He began his college career as an honorable-mention All-American at North Iowa Area Community College and captained the team to a conference title.
