Sam Byrd Promoted to Lead Earlham Men's Soccer
RICHMOND, Ind. — Sam Byrd '03 was a decorated student-athlete for the Earlham men's soccer team before returning as an assistant and later as a head coach in the high school ranks.
Now Byrd will lead the same team he proudly played for, but this time around, he will lead as head coach.
"Being a student-athlete at Earlham was probably the best experience of my life," Byrd says. "This place is special to me. I really developed as a person here. I want to provide those same experiences for future recruits and my current players."
Byrd was a four-year letterman as part of a nationally ranked Quaker team and North Coast Athletic Conference title-contending program. After graduating from Earlham, Byrd was an assistant on Roy Messer's staff from 2005-2008 and returned as an assistant for the 2013-14 seasons.
From 2009-12, Byrd was head coach for Richmond High School and led the Red Devils to four consecutive sectional championships culminating with the first North Central Conference Championship the program had won since 2005.
"Sam was a standout student-athlete for us and has been involved in every aspect of the program as an assistant coach," Director of Athletics Mike Bergum says. "He has been instrumental in the success of the men's soccer program and is well prepared to carry on the rich soccer tradition that we have here."
Byrd replaces Messer, who is retiring after a 34-year career that garnered five conference championships, six National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament appearances, and one National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament appearance.
"We have great leadership and character on the team right now," Byrd says. "Every coach wants to win and we have a group that can do just that. But more importantly, I want to develop our student-athletes and watch them graduate having loved Earlham."
