Francis Marion University

Florence, SC 29501

South Carolina Southeast

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Coaches

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Sam Holmes

Sam Holmes is entering his first season as head coach of the Francis Marion University women's soccer program.

Holmes comes to FMU from Limestone University where he has been the head coach for the past six seasons. He owns a 71-27-4 coaching mark and guided the Saints to three NCAA Division II National Tournament berths (2017, 2018, 2022).

Prior to this season, four of his five squads at Limestone earned United State Soccer Coaches Team Academic Awards. His squads produced a pair of All-Americans and 13 All-Region selections.

He was an assistant coach on the Limestone staff for three seasons before taking over the head coaching reigns in 2017.

He also served as an assistant coach at Minot State University in North Dakota for four seasons, during which time the Beavers registered 42 victories.

A native of Bexley, Kent, England, he earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from Flagler College in 2008 and a master’s degree in management from Minot State in 2012.

Holmes is the seventh head coach in the history of the 28-year-old program. Francis Marion earned a pair of NCAA Division II National Tournament berths in 1998 and 2000. The Patriots competed as NCAA Division I independents from 2005 to 2015 before returning to Division II affiliation.

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Toni Worley

Worley enters her first season as an assistant coach with the Patriot women’s soccer program.

She comes to FMU after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Wingate University during the 2022-23 school year. She helped direct the Bulldogs to an NCAA Division II National Tournament berth.

While in the Charlotte area, she also served as a club coach with the Charlotte Independence and as a volunteer goalkeeper coach with the Lake Norman Charter High School. She guided the Charlotte Independence U19 squad to a State Cup title and a 2021 regional qualification. Lake Norman Charter captured the NCHSAA 3A state championship in 2022.

Worley earned a B.A. degree cum laude from Texas Women’s University in 2020, and was a four-year member of the women’s soccer team. She was part of the University’s first squad to earn a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2019. For her work in the classroom, she was placed on the Chancellor’s List in 2017, 2018, and 2020.

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Dayle McEwen

Dayle McEwen enters her second year as a graduate assistant coach with the Patriot women's soccer program.

A five-year letterwinner with the FMU women's soccer program, McEwen earned her earned a Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare administration in May 2021.

A native of Belleville, Ill., McEwen started all 74 matches in her career and tallied 21 goals (9 match-winners), 8 assists, and 131 shots, and was 8-of-9 from the penalty spot. She was named her team's most valuable player in both 2019 and 2017. She registered match-winning scores in back-to-back matches against Coker College (9-5-18) and Mars Hill University (9-7-18) and was later named the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week (Sept. 10, 2018).

As a freshman, she was named the Peach Belt Defender of the Week on September, 18, 2017.

McEwen was twiced named to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll (2019, 2021) and was selected to the FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic Honor Roll on seven occasions. During her final season of play, she was named to the Conference Carolinas 2021 Fall Academic All-Conference Team presented by Barnes & Noble College.

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Luis Rincon

Luis Rincon is preparing to enter his fifth season as head coach of the Francis Marion University men's soccer program.

Rincon was named to his new post on Feb. 14, 2019, and became the seventh head coach in the 47-year history of the Francis Marion program. His men's career coaching mark stands at 95-42-19 over seven seasons as a college head coach.

This past year, he led FMU to an 8-6-5 record, a tie for second during the Conference Carolinas regular season, and a second straight appearance in the conference tournament title match. The squad earned a Team Academic Award from the United Soccer Association for the third time in Rincon's four seasons in Florence.

In 2021, he guided the Patriots to a 12-5-2 mark and the regular-season title in the program's first year as a member of Conference Carolinas. The Patriots also reached the title match of the conference tournament and Rincon was named the league's Coach of the Year.

In 2020, his Patriots posted a 4-3-4 mark and made a second straight appearance in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament title match. That season was delay and abbreviated by covid-19 and actually took place in the Spring of 2021.

In his first year, he guided the Patriots to a 16-5-1 record, the 2019 Peach Belt Tournament title, and the program's third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. FMU finished the season ranked No.22 in the United Soccer Coaches final NCAA II Top 25 poll, after being nationally ranked for seven weeks during the regular season, including three weeks in the Top 10. The team's win total was the third-highest total in team history, including a first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament. FMU led the Peach Belt with a 0.74 goals against average and a school-record 11 shutouts.

Rincon received the 2020 Frankie Award for Head Coach of the Year, and the 2019 Patriot men's soccer squad received the 2020 Frankie Award for Most Outstanding Team.

A native of Bogota, Colombia, prior to coming to Florence Rincon headed the Ohio Valley men’s program for the past four seasons, registering a 55-23-7 record and earning a pair of NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.

In his final season (2018), he guided OVU to an 18-6-1 mark and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the national tournament. The Fighting Scots finished the year ranked No.10 after reaching as high as second in the nation.

His 2017 squad posted a 17-2-4 record that included both the Great Midwest Conference regular-season and tournament titles and an NCAA Tournament invitation. The team was nationally ranked for eight consecutive weeks, finishing the year at No.6.

He took over an OVU men’s program that was 0-17-0 before his arrival and immediately turned the program around. His first squad went 9-8-1 and garnered the program’s first-ever berth in the Great Midwest Conference Tournament. The next year, the Fighting Scots produced an 11-7-1 campaign, setting a school-record for wins in a season, and placed second during the G-MAC regular season.

He also guided the OVU women’s team to a two-year record of 33-4-6, including two conference regular-season and tournament titles, and two NCAA Tournament bids.

Prior to taking the OVU position, he served four seasons as an assistant coach for both men’s and women’s soccer at his alma mater, Texas A&M International University. Also during that time, he worked as an assistant instructor for weight training, aerobic training, and soccer.

He also worked for three years as a men’s and women’s assistant at another of his alma maters, Warner University in Lake Wales, Fla., and has experience coaching with the Eden Prairie Soccer Club in Minneapolis, Minn.

Rincon earned a B.A. degree in business administration from Warner in 2008 and an M.B.A. degree in international business from Texas A&M International in 2010. He holds an advanced national diploma from the NSCAA.

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Kevin Martin

Kevin Martin enters his third season as an assistant coach for the Francis Marion University men's soccer program.

A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Martin comes to FMU after serving two years as an assistant at Brevard College.

He earned an undergraduate degree (in sport, exercise, and coaching) at Open University in Scotland and a Diploma of Sports and Exercise Science from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.

Martin also served as an assistant coach at Wayne Country Day School in Goldsboro, N.C., where he helped the Chargers win their first state championship. Other past coaching appointments have been with the Wayne County United Soccer Club, Livingston Football Club, Berwick Rangers Football Club, and the University of Edinburgh Association Football Club.

He has also worked as a senior opposition analyst with Velez Club de Futbol in Spain and as a manager of accounts payable at Benton Truck Brokers.

He holds both a UEFA Aand B License, an International Society of Performance Analysis of Sports (ISPAS) Level 1 license, and a Scottish FA Goalkeeping Certificate.

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Gabriel Rodriguez

Rodriguez enters his first season as an assistant coach for the Patriot men's soccer program.

A native of Cali, Colombia, Rodriguez comes to Francis Marion with more than five years of coaching experience with local academies and personalized training. He most recently spent two years with the Soccer Trap organization in Dunbar, W.V., and nearly two years with the West Virginia Futbol Club in Charleston, W.V.

Rodriguez is a 2021 graduate of the University of Charleston, where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology, graduating cum laude. He was a member of the Golden Eagles soccer program that captured the 2019 NCAA Division II national championship and was the national runner-up in 2021. He was a first-team All-American in 2021 and twice earned first-team All-Mountain East Conference recognition. He was named to the MEC All-Tournament Team on three occasions. He appeared in 57 career matches and tallied 110 shots, 32 goals, and 12 assists, while logging more than 3,100 minutes on the pitch.

Prior to college, he played as a semi-professional with America de Cali club in Colombia and with Leeds United in England.

After college, he played professionally with the Limon Black Star club in Costa Rica.