Ed Beach (Drury Sports Information) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury University men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan will step down to accept the head coaching job at Northern Illinois University, an NCAA-I program in DeKalb, Illinois.
Swan has been the Panthers head coach for eight seasons and compiled a record of 106-47-8 (.658) during his tenure at Drury. He led the Panthers to four NCAA-II tournament appearances and the 2009 Great Lakes Valley Conference championship as part of a 21-2 season. Swan was named the GLVC Coach of the Year that season in addition to being named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Midwest Region Coach of the Year. He leaves as Drury’s all-time leader in career coaching wins for men’s soccer.
“Coach Swan’s teams had success both on and off the field,” said Drury University Vice President and Director of Athletics, Mark Fisher. “We are sad to see him go but at the same time, we’re happy for him, his wife Courtney and his family to have this opportunity. We want to thank Ryan for his contributions to Drury Athletics and wish him the best as he moves forward.”
Last fall, Swan’s team finished the year ranked 20th in NCAA-II. The Panthers went 13-4-4 and advanced to the national tournament round of 16 where they lost on penalty kicks to Rockhurst.
Swan’s teams were also successful academically throughout his time at Drury. Under Swan, the Panthers earned NSCAA Team Academic Awards for seven straight seasons and, in 2015, men’s soccer posted the best grade point average among Drury men’s sports with a 3.54 GPA. That squad also earned a Team Academic Award from the GLVC and 15 players from that team won All-Academic honors from the conference for having an accumulative grade point average of 3.30 or better.
Swan has coached 31 All-GLVC performers with 15 of those named first team selections. He also had 13 named All-Midwest Region players during his eight seasons leading the Panthers.
A search for Drury’s next men’s soccer head coach will begin immediately.
