Andy Stoots Joins the Louisville Women's Soccer Staff

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Andy Stoots, an assistant at Minnesota, has joined the University of Louisville women's soccer coaching staff according to head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.

"We are excited to have Andy joining our staff," said Ferguson-Dayes. "Andy has had a wealth of college coaching experience and has worked with some of the top coaches in the country at both Minnesota and Samford. He is a fantastic coach who will be able to make an immediate impact on our team upon his arrival. He is very passionate about building and creating relationships with the players and he has a wonderful recruiting network around the country which will allow us to continue to recruit the best players in the country."

Stoots has an extensive coaching resume spanning the course of thirteen years. Prior to accepting the position at the University of Louisville, Stoots served as an assistant at Minnesota the last two years, working with the goalkeepers. While at Minnesota he helped guide the Gophers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. This season the Gophers won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles for the first time in school history, finishing with an overall record of 16-3-4. Goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs broke the program record in shutouts, tallying 33 during her time in maroon and gold. Hobbs logged over 300 saves in her collegiate career.

"We are sad to lose Andy as he was such a wonderful part of our staff, however, we are excited for the entire Stoots family for this opportunity," said Minnesota head coach Stefanie Golan. "Louisville is getting a man of high character who will positively contribute to the overall culture as well as someone who invests a great deal developing the student-athletes in all facets of their lives. Andy has a tremendous work ethic and passion for coaching, and I have no doubt he will make an immediate positive impact on the Louisville women's soccer program."

Prior to joining the Minnesota staff, Stoots was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. for four seasons. During his time with the Bulldogs, Stoots helped the team excel to new heights both on and off the field as they earned NSCAA Top 10 Regional rankings, earned votes in the NSCAA Top 25 and earned both regular season and conference tournament titles. While coaching with an emphasis on goalkeeping, Stoots helped develop goalkeepers Alyssa Whitehead, Melissa Montgomery, Katie Peters and Anna Maddox who all earned conference honors. Peters trained with the US U-20 Women's National Team in 2013.

Prior to his tenure at Samford, Stoots also served as an assistant coach at Belmont University, East Tennessee State and Troy University. At Eastern Tennessee, Stoots spent three years as an assistant coach and the final three of his time with the Lady Bucs as associate head coach. With the Lady Bucs, he focused on goalkeeper development and saw a pair of student-athletes combine for 15 program records and allowed only 28 goals in 2007.

Stoots began his coaching career at his alma mater immediately following his graduation from Milligan College. He served as an assistant coach for the men's and women's programs in 2002. As a four-year letter winner, Stoots served as a captain for his final two seasons. He helped lead his team to a new school standard with 15 victories in 2001. To this day, Stoots still holds the school record for career shutouts, career goals-against average and wins.

He graduated from Milligan College with a bachelor's degree in human performance and exercise science in 2002. He holds a USSF National D License and NSCAA Premier Diploma. From 2007-12, Stoots was on the Region III staff and was a part of the Tennessee ODP staff from 2001-05.

University of Louisville Athletics

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