Campbell University

Colby Cunningham joined the Campbell staff in the spring of 2020 after spending two seasons as a volunteer assistant with the women's program at ACC member Notre Dame.

In his first season on staff, Cunningham assisted in leading the Camels to a 8-4-1 (6-2-1 Big South) record and its first Big South Championship since 1993.  Campbell earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the second time in program history, hosting Iowa in its first round matchup in Buies Creek.

Campbell held a No. 22 National Team Ranking by Top Drawer Soccer following its Big South Championship title and had a program-record four selections to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region teams in Laney Peabody (First Team), Jessica Donald (Second Team), Cazzi Norgren (Third Team) and Elyssa Nowowieski (Third Team). The Camels also tied a program-record with seven All-Big South selections.

Donald was named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-South Second Team and Siara Southerland was named the program's first Big South Christenberry Award winner for maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout all four years as an undergraduate student. Additionally, Donald was named No. 98 on Top Drawer Soccer's Top 100 Players list while Norgren was named No. 39 on the publication's Top 100 Freshmen list.

The Camels' offense ranked in the national top-30 in six offensive statistical categories, including leading the nation in corner kicks per game (10.69) and a No. 4 ranking in shots per game (18.15). 
 
"Colby paved a successful path within each of his coaching stops and worked in one of the best conferences in the country," stated head coach Samar Azem. "He is a tireless worker, with an insatiable hunger to ensure success. He has an exceptional and detailed ability to analyze and relay principles of the game through sub structures. His background in technology will bring a useful methodology to our data and film analysis as well as player development. He will play a key role in various aspects of the program including developing our student-athletes and team organization, as well as identifying and recruiting high level student-athletes."

Background
In 2019, Notre Dame had a number of individual offensive breakout seasons under Cunningham’s tutelage. Juniors Eva Hurm and Sammie Fisher both earned All-ACC third team honors after leading the Irish in goals, assists and points. Sophomore Luisa Delgado returned from injury and finished second in assists (4) and third in goals (4) and points (12).

Cunningham also worked with graduate transfer Autumn Smithers, a recent signee for Portland Thorns of the NWSL. She started every game for the Irish at center back and led the team in minutes with 1,811. She tallied a brace in the 2-1 comeback road win over Western Michigan. She also played 90-plus minutes in 12 of the 21 games during the season, including playing every minute of the final four games.

In his first year with the Irish, he worked with Sabrina Flores, who was selected by SkyBlue FC in the 2019 NWSL Draft and is currently playing overseas with Sevilla FC.

Prior to Notre Dame, Cunningham spent two years as an assistant for the men's team at Saginaw Valley State. He helped the Cardinals to tremendous success, winning a GLIAC Championship in 2016 and two NCAA Tournament berths. The Cardinals compiled a record of 28-9-3 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons while producing two All-Americans, 18 All-GLIAC, two Freshmen of the Year, a GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year and GLIAC Goalkeeper of the Year. 

He served as an assistant coach for three seasons at Detroit City FC while they competed in the NPSL Members Cup. During his time at DCFC, which boasts one of the largest fan bases in all of North America, they reached three playoff appearances and two runs in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup before losing to USL Championship team Louisville City FC in penalty kicks in 2016.

Cunningham also has experience at the club level, where he coached with Liverpool International Academy – Michigan and the Olympic Development Program. 

Cunningham played at Oakland University during the 2007-08 season where he earned an all-academic award as well as his bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. He also played in Lørsenskog, Norway for the third division team Fjellhamar FK. He currently holds his USSF “B’ License as well as an NSCAA National Diploma.