HEAD COACH KYLE RUSSELL

Head Coach Kyle Russell's enters his fifth season leading the men's soccer program heading into 2024.

In 2023, Russell posted his third straight 10-win season, including making the program's 23rd NCAA tournament appearance advancing to the second round of the tournament after defeating Mercer in the first round. FIU posted four all-conference selections with Eduardo Mustre winning the first-team All-AAC.

Russell's third season was his most successful yet leading the Panthers to a 14-5-1 overall record, the most wins since 2003, and a 6-2-1 conference record.

FIU won The American regular season and postseason tournament championships in the program's first season in the conference.

The Panthers also made their 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, making it to the third round for the third time. The Panthers were the No. 10 seed in the tournament, earning an automatic first round bye and defeated New Hampshire in the second round in a thrilling penalty shootout.

Russell’s side took down five ranked opponents in 2022 including an, 3-0, upset victory of the No 10 Tulsa at FIU Soccer Stadium and taking down then No. 13 UNC. His side was dominant to end the season going 10-2-1, including a eight-match unbeaten streak. In addition under the guidance of Russsell. Stephen Afrifa was slected as the eighth overall pick of the MLS Superdraft by Sporting KC, the second-highest selection in program history.

In Russell's first full coaching season the Panthers racked up 22 points in the league standings, marking the most by an FIU squad since joining C-USA, while making an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 appearance and defeating a No. 1 nationally ranked team for the first time in FIU program history.

Russell was named the 2021 Conference USA Coach of the Year after guiding the Panthers to a 2021 Conference USA Regular Season Championship, including a 12-2-2 regular season record and an undefeated 7-0-1 mark in C-USA.

Under Russell, the Panthers earned an at-large bid as the No. 13 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and secured a First Round bye, marking only the third time FIU has advanced automatically to the Round of 32. Coach Russell also stood as the youngest head coach in the 2021 NCAA Tournament field and the youngest in the formidable C-USA.

FIU rose as high as No. 12 in the national rankings during the 2021 season while being Top-25 in national polls for 10 consecutive weeks. The Panthers also achieved their highest RPI ranking (No. 13) since the 2003 season after playing six nationally ranked teams and two additional squads that received votes.

The Panthers posted a perfect 7-0 record at home including a dominating 4-1 victory over No. 1 ranked and defending NCAA champion Marshall in the final game of the regular season to secure the C-USA title. FIU earned the No. 1 seed in the Conference USA Tournament after battling in a formidable league field that went on to produce four NCAA Tournament teams (FIU, Kentucky, Marshall, Charlotte), which stood second behind only the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference).

Coach Russell helped FIU secure seven shutouts during the 2021 season, marking the program’s most clean sheets since the 2003 campaign. FIU also led the country in shot-attempts per game (17.62) in 2021, while also ranking second nationally in shots-on-goal per game (7.75) and Top-25 in several other offensive and defensive categories.

In a season that saw 15 Panther newcomers on only a 30-man roster, Russell developed talent that garnered 25 individual player awards throughout the season. Russell recruited the 2021 C-USA Freshman of the Year Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, while FIU also saw 10 All-Conference awards, 4 First Team All C-USA honorees, two C-USA All-Tournament Team members, six C-USA Player of the Week honors, three National Player of the Week honors (Top Drawer Soccer and CollegeSoccerNews.com), and four United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Team members.

Kyle Russell was named the head coach of the FIU men's soccer program on February 21, 2020.

Since arriving at FIU in 2020, Russell has hauled in two top-ranked recruiting classes, including the No. 16 ranked class in 2020 (Top Drawer Soccer) and the No. 30 class in 2021. At the mid-point of the 2021 season, TopDrawerSoccer.com also ranked three of FIU's newcomers in its Men's Top-100 Freshman list including Dos Santos Monteiro (No. 23), Julian Hodek (No. 69), and Edgar Aguilar (No. 76). 

Coach Russell owns a 30-13-4 overall record since joining FIU after posting a 4-4-1 mark in his first season at the helm amidst a global pandemic. During the 2020 shortened COVID season, Russell helped the Panthers earn six All-CUSA accolades and three C-USA Player of the Week awards.

Upon arriving at FIU in March of 2020, Russell immediately put together one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. After the 2020 Fall campaign was shortened and postponed to the Spring of 2021, Russell helped the Panthers earn six 2020 All-CUSA accolades and three C-USA Player of the Week awards during Spring competition.

Prior to joining FIU, Russell spent 10 seasons as a member of the Coastal Carolina men's soccer program and served as associate head coach of the Chanticleers from 2015-19.

During Russell's 10-year stint with CCU, the Chanticleers posted a 147-66-27 overall record to go along with a 63-11-8 mark in conference play. Under Russell's guidance, the Chants secured a total of 12 championship titles, including four Big South regular-season titles (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013), three Big South Tournament titles (2010, 2013, 2014), three Sun Belt Tournament titles (2016, 2017, 2019) and two Sun Belt regular-season titles (2016, 2017). Along the way, Russell helped guide the Chanticleers to nine NCAA Tournament appearances including eight-straight trips from 2010-2017, and most recently a Second Round appearance in the 2019 tourney.

Russell's responsibilities on the CCU staff included acting as the primary recruiting coordinator, scouting prospective student-athletes, game-day preparation, video analysis, and the coordination of the Chanticleers' defensive unit. Russell was highly involved in the recruitment of eventual All-Americans Ashton Bennett (2011, 2012), Pedro Ribeiro (2011, 2013) and Shawn McLaws (2014) — the latter of who became the first All-American selection by a Chanticleer defender since Guy Norcott in 1992. Additionally, Russell recruited NSCAA All-Region performers Justin Portillo, Uchenna Uzo, Ricky Garbanzo, Matt Risher and Ridge Robinson.

During his five-year tenure as associate head coach, Russell helped lead the Chanticleers to a 59-35-18 record while posting an 18-7-3 record in league play. During that span, Russell helped guide the Chanticleers to five NCAA Tournament victories in four different appearances, while also winning five Sun Belt trophies. In 2015, Russell helped the Chanticleers earn their highest-ever national ranking in program history as they were slotted No. 4 by both College Soccer News (CSN) and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Russell became the first-ever to earn the title of associate head coach at CCU men's soccer in 2015 after spending the 2010-14 seasons as an assistant coach on the Chanticleer's staff.

In his first five seasons as an assistant coach, Russell helped guide the Chanticleers to six NCAA Tournament victories in five appearances while also winning seven Big South trophies. Additionally, Russell helped the Chants to a top-25 national ranking in four consecutive seasons from 2011-14, including a then-program-high ranking of No. 5 during the latter stages of the 2013 season. Under Russell, the Chanticleers co-led the NCAA with 85 wins from 2010-14 while dominating the Big South Conference and compiling a 40-4-2 conference record.

Russell's defensive approach heavily impacted CCU, as Chanticleer squads ranked in the top 20 percent of the NCAA in goals-against-average and shutout percentage during each season from 2010-2014. The Chants produced 48 shutouts during that span, including 12 each in the 2012 and 2013 campaigns. Russell coached four-straight Big South Defensive Players of the Year from 2010-14, while seeing 12 Chanticleer defensive players earn All-Big South honors.

Russell began his coaching career as a student volunteer assistant coach on the Chanticleers staff during the 2009 campaign, in which he helped CCU earn a Big South regular-season title while posting a 9-2-7 overall record and an undefeated 5-0-3 mark in conference play.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks at CCU, Russell spent four seasons on the pitch as a member of the Chanticleer men's soccer team from 2005-2008.

A four-year defender, Russell drew 74 starts in 78 appearances and currently ranks ninth all-time at CCU in games played while ranking eighth all-time in games started. Russell played an instrumental role in helping CCU secure one Big South regular-season championship (2007), one Big South Tournament championship (2005), and one trip to the NCAA Tournament (2005) during his playing career. He earned three All-Big South selections and was tabbed to the Big South All-Tournament team three times.

Russell went on to participate in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Combine during the summer of 2009 and the United Soccer League (USL) combine in 2010. Upon graduation, Russell played professionally with the Charleston Battery, Real Maryland and Charlotte Eagles of the USL.

A native of South Elgin, Illinois, Russell graduated from Coastal Carolina in 2009 with a degree in business management and received his master's of business administration in 2014. He and his wife Monica married in May of 2013.