MOBILE, Ala. – After leading Carson-Newman to a 36-7-1 record and a pair of NCAA Division II Tournament appearances over the last two seasons, Richard Moodie was named head soccer coach at the University of South Alabama on Friday. The announcement was made by Jaguar Director of Athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann.
Moodie comes to USA after directing the Eagle men's soccer program to a 59-44-9 overall mark — including 35-21 in South Atlantic Conference action — the last six years while guiding the women's team to a 48-38-7 mark in the last five seasons. In addition to leading C-N's women to back-to-back league regular-season and tournament titles, Moodie helped the men advance to the NCAA Tournament championship match in 2013.
"We were fortunate to have a tremendous pool of candidates for this position who all possessed impressive experience and accomplishments," said Erdmann. "The selection of Coach Moodie was driven by a combination of factors including his history of successfully and simultaneously leading two programs, his teaching and leadership style, his recruiting philosophy and success, his vision for the South Alabama soccer program, and his inherent energy and passion for the sport of soccer and the coaching profession. We are excited about his arrival on campus and looking forward to working with him to place his thumbprint on the program."
"It was going to take something special for me to leave Carson-Newman, but when I got on the South Alabama campus I felt like this was the right move," Moodie said. "I've spent all my days at Carson-Newman — I went to school, met my wife and raised my family there — but for my family and my career this was the best decision. It's hard to put into words why South Alabama is special, but once you step onto campus you can see it and you can feel it. It's a great place to be and is destined for many more successes across the board.
"I would like to thank Dr. Erdmann, Jinni Frisbey and the South Alabama administration for this opportunity and their belief in me."
During the 2016 season, Moodie led the Eagle women to a 17-4-1 finish after earning a first-round NCAA Tournament victory. C-N claimed a share of the SAC regular-season title with an 8-2-1 mark, then won the tournament title while outscoring the opposition 9-1 in three matches. A total of 10 Eagles picked up all-conference honors and four were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America all-region squad, highlighted by Lauren Wade's selection to multiple All-American teams while being chosen the SAC Player of the Year. For his efforts, Moodie and his assistants were selected the NSCAA Southeast Region Staff of the Year.
The previous fall, Carson-Newman posted a 19-3 overall record and a 10-1 mark in conference play before going on to claim both the program's first SAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament victory since 2009. The Eagles had a third-team NSCAA All-American, three individuals receive all-region recognition and the league's Player of the Year, with Moodie selected the NSCAA and SAC Coach of the Year.
Moodie was named the CaptainU National Coach of the Year after guiding the Eagles' men's squad to the NCAA championship match in 2013 as they finished the year with a 16-6-1 mark. That was part of a four-year stretch during which time C-N would go 28-9-5 in South Atlantic play, with the Eagles ending up 9-2 in the conference and 15-3-2 overall while sharing the regular-season title in 2015. That season Moodie was named the SAC Coach of the Year while two individuals received all-region recognition and nine were honored by the league.
A four-year letterwinner at Carson-Newman from 2002-05, Moodie ranks among the program all-time leaders with 73 total appearances and 59 starts. During his final three seasons of competition, the Eagles put together a 49-10-6 record in all matches while going 19-1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, claiming three straight regular-season championships, three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and the 2005 league tournament title. As a senior, Moodie was named first-team all-region and all-conference.
A 2006 C-N graduate with a degree in business management, Moodie served as a graduate assistant with the program for two seasons before earning his master's degree from the school in education in 2008. He was the head boys' and girls' soccer coach at Morristown East (Tenn.) High School before returning to his alma mater as head men's coach in 2011.
Moodie takes over a Jaguar program that has a 66-18-7 record overall and 29-5-2 mark in the Sun Belt Conference the last four years. USA has been to four straight NCAA Tournaments — earning the school's first-ever victory in the event in 2015 — after winning the SBC Tournament each of those seasons, and has claimed the last three regular-season league championships.
"The biggest thing for me, regardless of how successful the program has been, is taking the time to re-recruit the current student-athletes and establish relationships with the current team," said Moodie. "Clearly the program's results speak for themselves, but we want to evaluate goals and objectives and make sure we are all in the same boat rowing together. It's important in this transition that as soon we have the opportunity to meet the student-athletes and organize our first practice session that we will pick up where they left off with the same standards and expectations.
"South Alabama has had great recent success, but you can't just be happy winning the Sun Belt Conference. I think the program has the ability to build on the success it has already experienced, I would expect the team to be ready to train that way and work as hard as they can in order to accomplish that."
Moodie and his wife, Jess, have two children, Caragyn (8) and Trystan (4).