Will she also coach high school or club in Nor Cal?
It will be interesting to see who takes over at OLU. She had admin/oversight of both the boy’s and girl’s programs at OLU.
If the rumor that John Tanner intends to retire after the 2026 season is true, we now have a pretty good idea who will take his place.
Back Where It All Began - Stanford Cardinal - Official Athletics Website
She was the HC of Coach Castilleja (Palo Alto) girls wopo several years back too….
I would venture to guess she would work with Flacks as far as oversight with Stanford club is concerned.
Kim Krueger during her time at Stanford was the HS girls coach for Stanford’s club so it’s not too far off to say that a similar situation follows suit
I wonder if Stanford is giving her housing on campus as part of the package (like they do for Football and Basketball coaches).
Going to be tough to coach both college and club in No Cal. The girls/women’s seasons are both in the spring. Girls HS water polo is in the fall in No Cal. . . .
So with Susan Ortwein they’ll now have 2 Associate Head Coaches?
Who are the frontrunners to take over for her at OLu?
My bet is Edgar Villa; he was head coach for the 16s at Legacy so he knows those players and families well enough to make the transition smooth for the high school team. He’s also had a lot of championship experience with Downey HS.
That’s a good bet. I think maybe another option, although it may be unreasonable, could be Maggie Steffens. She’s become very involved in youth coaching with 6-8 and is an Olympian just like Brenda was. If she has time and decides she wants to coach I think this could be a great start for her. Unlikely, but just another option.
Hasn’t Maggie just relocated to Marin County?
Yes, Maggie is in Northern California and her and Bobby bought a house.
If I were to guess, yes. And if what Jeff says is true about JT’s retirement and possible successor, then I could see Coach Ortwein maintaining her current role as assistant coach which would be invaluable. She is also key in recruiting. Her contribution to the programs success cannot be overlooked. Lastly don’t forget Kyle Utsumi also once served as a coach on staff with JT and Ortwein.
I haven’t seen this pointed out much, but regardless of how things look after 2026, Brenda being on staff, in my opinion, is really going to create a monopoly in the coming years.
Villa has had an incredible amount of exposure and interactions with up and coming players as a part of multiple national team staffs and heading the Cadet Level this last year. For those girls that have enjoyed playing for her, the possibility of doing so at the NCAA level for a top notch school is going to be a big draw. Not to mention the relationships already built at a formative point in those younger players who are beginning to wonder where their college aspirations lie. I think it’ll be a disadvantage for other coaches who are not as involved with that younger Cadet age group because of how much time there is to foster a relationship.
the same can be said of the opposite (maybe they don’t like playing for her), but I still stand by this just gave a bigger pull for recruits than previously
I don’t think it makes much difference. Stanford already has a huge advantage over everyone else because they are Stanford. Everyone wants to go there
Girls and boys clubs are separate entities and managed separately from one another. JT and his staff run Stanford Girls Club and Flacks/Farmer run the Stanford boys club. Managed and run separately.
Why would Brenda leapfrog Susan Ortwein if JT retires? What is that logic?
In my opinion, the conclusion comes from the fact that’s she’s not being brought on as an assistant coach: her title is also Associate Head Coach.
so when we traditionally believe the Associate Head is who is “next in line” for the job, then wouldn’t that mean there can only ever be one AHC at a time? It’s open ended enough where it invites speculation for why not be an assistant coach? Who had made the decision/request for a more specific title. All things we don’t know because it happens behind closed doors, yet people are right to wonder about it.
as a longtime fan of Brenda I would love to see her take on the mantle. There’s no denying Susan has done tremendous work for Stanford too. Unfortunately a lot of it is jotted down to speculation