Liam Rooney / Staff Writer
FIU men’s soccer head coach Kyle Russell has agreed to sign a five year contract extension that’ll keep the Conference USA coach of the year as a Panther until 2027.
It is expected that the contract will be formally signed by the end of the month. New athletic director Scott Carr was instrumental in keeping Russell in Miami. Carr arrived on campus in December and he and Russell quickly had discussions about the future of the soccer program.
Russell had a tempting offer from a Power Five school that he spent time considering in December, but after long discussions with Carr, Russell decided to continue to build FIU’s soccer program.
In his two seasons as head coach, Russell has posted a 16-8-3 overall record, going 12-4-2 last season and winning FIU’s first C-USA regular season title since 2017 and appearing in the NCAA tournament.
In previous interviews with PantherNOW, Russell has said he wants to build a soccer powerhouse at FIU and win national titles with the program. His ambition to win and Carr’s desire to create a winning atmosphere at FIU helped the two find common ground in negotiations.
Russell wants to turn FIU into a household name in college soccer, and now he has five more years to do so.
