After nearly a decade of being head coach, Daniel Ridenhour resigned from his head coach position without much notice on November 3
By Omar Woods
Sports Editor
Two days after the Winthrop Men’s Soccer team played their final game of the season against High Point on November 1, news of the resignation of the men’s soccer head coach Daniel Ridenhour was released.
Due to how sudden and immediate his resignation was, it has left some to ponder over the reason for his departure from Winthrop. Chuck Rey, the Athletic Director of Winthrop, gave his recognition to the ex-coach and some possible answers for his leave.
“I have known him since 2008 when I first got here. He’s a great man and somebody that has a ton of respect within our department,” Rey said. “He has provided his letter of resignation and is probably going to pursue some opportunities outside of the university here which we respect.”
Ridenhour has served as head coach for the soccer team since the retirement of the previous head coach Rich Posipanko. Before taking the role as head coach, he worked as the associate head coach.
Since becoming head coach, the men’s soccer team has had a losing record every season.
The current season followed this same trend, as the men’s soccer team would go on to only win a single game for the entire season. The lone win came against Radford.
On the website “2aDays.com,” which is a service that allows athletes to anonymously rate college coaches and college sports programs, the reviews for Ridenhour have been less than positive. Many of the reviews are overwhelmingly negative and one of them referred to Ridenhour as a “pathological liar.”
“Pathological liar, does not keep his word. No knowledge of soccer and no people skills. I would not recommend any prospective collegiate soccer player to pursue to play for,” said an anonymous athlete.
After Ridenhour’s resignation, the process to find a new head coach for the soccer team started immediately. Chuck Rey mentioned that he is interested in seeing the future of the men’s soccer program due to it currently being the 50th anniversary of the program.
“About a month ago we had over one-hundred alumni here just for the men’s soccer program, of which they have been very vocal in a positive way,” Rey said. “Everybody kinda has their own guy and ‘this is who it’s gonna be,’ but I’m glad for their support and glad for their recommendations.”
Zane Barnes has taken the role as the interim head men’s soccer coach. He was previously associate coach for the men’s soccer team.
The Johnsonian reached out to multiple members of the men’s soccer team to express their thoughts on Ridenhour’s resignation, but we did not receive any responses.
