John Brown University Director of Athletics Robin Daugherty announced on April 25 the appointment of Samuel Estrada as the next head coach of the men's soccer program.
“This is an exciting time for the men's soccer program,” Dougherty said. “Samuel had a great career as a Golden Eagle, and we were fortunate to have him on campus to help our boys this spring.
“His soccer and interpersonal skills were evident to me and the search committee. We look forward to watching Samuel lead the Golden Eagles on and off the field.”
Estrada, a native of San Salvador, El Salvador, becomes the sixth bench boss in program history after a four-year career as a Golden Eagle. The midfielder played in 56 games from 2017 to 2020, starting 25 games and recording five assists as a senior.
As a junior in 2019, the team captain started 14 of 20 games and logged nearly 1,400 minutes in midfield, leading the Golden Eagles to a 17-4-1 record and the Sooner Athletics' regular season record. He contributed to winning the tournament title. John Brown also recently competed in the NAIA National Championship that season, defeating Southeastern (Florida State) in a penalty shootout before losing to eventual national semifinalist Lindsey Wilson (Kentucky State).
Estrada has been supporting the men's soccer program since graduating in 2021, but for the past three years he has primarily been a mainstay in the John Brown University admissions department, focusing primarily on international students and kids, as well as Missouri, Illinois, and He has been in charge of the new students from Wisconsin. of the missionaries.
“I couldn’t be more excited to step into the head coaching role here at JBU,” Estrada said. “With my experience as a team captain and my love for the JBU community, I feel prepared to lead this talented group of young men. I also feel that they will trust me and support me through this process and transition in program leadership.” I'm also very grateful to Robin (Daugherty) for that.”
“Together we will honor God, work hard and compete at the highest level possible.”
After graduating from JBU with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Estrada continued on to the graduate program and earned a master's degree in business administration with a specialization in design thinking and innovation in 2023.
Estrada and his wife, Katie, live in Tontitown.
The Golden Eagles finished 2023 with an 11-6-0 record and were the SAC regular season runner-up with an 8-1-0 league record.
