ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After an extensive search, the Eckerd College athletics department has officially appointed Ian Cameron as its new head coach of the men's soccer program.
Cameron, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, becomes the 10th head coach in the 42-year history of the Eckerd men's soccer program replacing
Cristian Neagu, who resigned last month.
"I am very excited to welcome Ian Cameron to the Eckerd College family," said Eckerd Director of Athletics
Dr. Bob Fortosis. "He is a tireless worker who has been a successful recruiter at the Division I level. Most importantly, he is invested in the success of the student-athletes both on and off the field. These qualities made him an excellent choice to lead our men's soccer program into continued competitiveness on the conference and national level."
Cameron joins the Tritons after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Mercer (Ga.) University, a member of the Southern Conference and a former member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
"I want to thank President Eastman,
Dr. Bob Fortosis and the search committee for entrusting me with the leadership of the Eckerd Men's Soccer Program," he said. "My wife and I are excited for the opportunity to be part of the Eckerd family, and to immerse ourselves in the greater St. Petersburg community."
Cameron's work with the Bears, particularly his recruiting, played a major factor in the program's elevated success. Mercer posted double-digit wins in the last two seasons and won the school's first Southern Conference championship in 2014. In that season, the Bears recorded a program-record 14 wins while advancing to the SoCon Tournament Championship game.
He also helped mold an offense that ranked 37th nationally in points per game in 2015 and was instrumental in the recruiting and developing of the 2014 SoCon Freshman of the Year, Will Bagrou.
"From my first contact, I could sense the enthusiasm, commitment and vision for this program, and I am humbled and honored to build upon the strong foundations already in place," Cameron added. "Eckerd's commitment to excellence both academically and athletically provide a perfect environment for student-athletes to develop and compete. As a team we will work extremely hard to make the Eckerd community proud of our program both on and off the field."
Mercer head coach Brad Ruzzo gave a glowing recommendation of Cameron upon his acceptance of the position.
"This is certainly a bittersweet moment for me personally as I hate to see Ian move on, but I am very excited for Ian and his wife Kelsey," Ruzzo said. "Ian has been an instrumental part of our program's success over the last three years as an assistant coach with our program achieving the Southern Conference regular season championship, 30 wins, multiple individual athletic awards, academic all-Americans, and 80 percent of the student-athletes with over a 3.0 GPA. In addition the above achievements, but he also brought integrity, honor, commitment, and incredible loyalty to the University and community. Eckerd College is the recipient of one of the brightest young coaching talents in the country and I fully expect them to achieve great things both academically and athletically. As a head coach, it is with great pride to see your former assistants obtain head coaching jobs, and Eckerd College has one of the rising stars leading their program now. I look forward to following the program and Ian's anticipated success moving forward."
An alumnus of Mercer, Cameron was a standout on the field while playing for the Bears from 2007-2010 as a midfielder. He remains in the program's record books ranking in the top 10 in points, goals and assists. He earned numerous honors including NSCAA All-Region and Atlantic Sun All-Conference.
In addition to coaching at Mercer, Cameron also worked with the Macon Soccer Club.
After concluding his playing career with a double major degree in Finance/Economics, Cameron attained his master's degree in Quantitative Finance from the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow. Before embarking on his coaching career, Cameron spent two years working in finance for London-based EM Applications as a portfolio risk analyst for investment professionals.
Upon returning to Mercer University in 2013, Cameron attained a masters in business administration before teaching Financial Derivatives in the Stetson School of Business and Economics.
Ian will officially assume the post in mid-June.