Veteran coach Perry takes over Monmouth men’s soccer

Monmouth College has hired George Perry to serve as its head men’s soccer coach, effective immediately.

Perry, who will also serve as director of intramural programs, comes to Monmouth from Rockford College, where he was in the process of reviving a program with low participation.

The veteran coach with nearly three decades of sideline experience will get right to work on the current recruiting class at Monmouth, and the college’s athletic director, Dr. Terry Glasgow, is pleased with the program’s new direction.

“We wanted to bring in a head coach who not only knows soccer – as George Perry clearly does – but who also could commit to being on campus and being accessible to our student-athletes outside of practices and games,” said Glasgow. “This search took time, but we feel very satisfied by the end result. We are confident George Perry will produce a first-class men’s soccer program.”

“When I was at my first head coaching position at the University of Rochester, I was only interested in moving up the ladder,” said Perry, who led that program from 1983-88. “Over time, I have grown to embrace the Division III environment of the student-athlete, and I enjoy working with the students who are a part of the soccer program, as well as the other students I am in contact with through student life.”

Before taking over at Rochester, Perry was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Indiana University. He left Rochester to serve as head coach at St. Bonaventure from 1989-94, and he also coached Wabash College from 2000-04. Along the way, Perry has also served as an Olympic Development Program (ODP) coach in New York and Indiana.

Perry holds several coaching credentials from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), including its 2003 Mike Berticelli Excellence in Coaching Education Award. He presently serves on the advisory committee to the NSCAA’s Director of Coaching and is on the national advisory board for the American Youth Soccer Organization. He has contributed his expertise to several coaching DVDs, as well as the book “The Soccer Coaching Bible.”

Perry and his wife, Ellen, have four children, ranging in age from 10 to 21.