Brandon Burkholder joined the Embry-Riddle men’s soccer coaching staff as a volunteer assistant in 2019.
Burkholder played college soccer for the Clemson Tigers from 2011-2013. During the 2011 season, Burkholder featured in the Tiger's defeat of top-ranked Maryland and was part of a team that went 10-8-2 and appeared in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
A high school standout, Burkholder achieved All-State honors three times and All-South Region honors twice. In his senior year, he was named an All-American and the NSCAA Player of the Year for South Carolina, and led the Wando Warriors to a state championship. He also played club soccer for Carolina Elite Soccer Academy, bringing home four state championships, two Disney Soccer Showcase championships, a USYSA Region III championship, a Region III Premier League East championship, and third place at USYSA Nationals 2009.
Burkholder was involved with youth soccer at Mount Pleasant Futsal Academy and Cainhoy Athletic in Charleston, South Carolina. He has also been a referee at the both the youth soccer and high school levels.
In 2015, Burkholder received his Bachelor of Science in Physics, Summa Cum Laude, with a concentration in Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science from Clemson. Burkholder then attended graduate school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where he received a Ph.D. in Space Physics and published his thesis titled "Solar Magnetic Fields: Source, Evolution, and Interaction with Planetary Magnetospheres."
In addition to his coaching duties, Burkholder works as a research associate in the Physics department at Embry-Riddle's Center for Space and Atmospheric Research, where he studies the connection of the sun to the Earth and other planets.
