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FMU Men's Soccer Coach Resigns

A.D. Drew • Oct 13, 2020

FMU Men’s Soccer Coach Resigns

By A.D. Drew, BCSN

 

October 12, 2020 -  Life at Florida Memorial University (FMU) has been interesting, to say the least, over the past two weeks.  On Friday, October 9, for FMU Head Men’s Soccer Coach, Conner Campbell, decided he could not take it anymore.  That day, he turned in his letter of resignation the athletic department and administration at Florida Memorial.  In a text message sent to his student-athletes, Campbell stated that the staff has been mistreated (especially in the last week) and behind the scene issues that he could no longer deal with.  He also expressed that he was sorry to (resign) mid-season.
 
The Black College Sports Network reached out to the Florida Memorial University athletic department and they declined to provide a statement regarding Coach Campbell.  


Campbell came to the NAIA Florida Memorial after serving as men’s head coach at Cincinnati Christian University (CCU) for the previous two seasons.  Cincinnati Christian was placed on "show-cause" status in the summer of 2019 and given one year to convince the accreditor, Higher Learning Commission, that it should remain accredited. On October 28, 2019, the university's board of trustees announced the decision to shut down the degree programs at the conclusion of the fall 2019 semester.  The Eagles, were a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and primarily competed in the River States Conference (RSC). The Eagles also competed as a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I level. Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer track & field, volleyball, and esports; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, cheerleading, soccer, softball, track & field, volleyball, and esports. On October 29, 2019, CCU announced that fall semester sports were discontinued since Cincinnati Christian closed at the end of the semester.
 
During Campbell’s final season at Cincinnati Christian, his team qualified for the post-season but was unable to compete due to the school’s imminent closure.  Campbell was introduced as head coach at FMU in December of 2019.  The 2020 season was his third as a head coach and his seventh as a coach, overall.  Campbell migrated to Florida Memorial University to take over a team that was 6-35 over the past three seasons and seeking its first winning season since 2016.  FMU has sponsored soccer as a varsity sport since 2009.  The Florida Memorial Lions were 0-3 at the time of the pause in the season due to COVID-19, during which time, Campbell resigned.  Despite not having any wins on the season, Campbell’s teams were competitive, losing two of the three matches by a score of 0-1.  The Lions were also without their starting and reserve goal keeper in two of the three matches played, forcing a position player to play the goal keeper position.
 
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida Memorial has been dealing with facility issues for various programs, including men’s soccer.  Soccer does not have an on-campus practice or game facility and have relied on usage of off-campus facilities in the past.  Due to COVID-19, those facilities have not been available because various restrictions.  
 
The resignation of Campbell is another item that has been added to the issues at Florida Memorial that have come to light over the past two weeks.  These issues have primarily revolved around COVID-19 throughout the entire pandemic.  Assistant Coach Chris Pinot has been named head coach on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2020 season. 

 


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