UNC Greensboro

UNC Greensboro announced on July 30, 2019, that Chris Rich has been named men’s soccer head coach.

In six years, Rich has led the Spartans to four Southern Conference regular season titles, two Southern Conference Tournament championships, two NCAA Tournament appearances and many national rankings.

Rich's sixth season saw him lead the Spartans to his fourth SoCon Regular Season Championship after concluding the regular season with a 3-2 victory over ETSU in Greensboro on Nov. 2, 2024, for a share of the regular season crown with ETSU. UNCG went on to finish 8-0-2 at home, marking the first undefeated season at home since 2002. Senior Yoshiya Okawa and freshman Issah Haruna highlighted seven All-SoCon honorees as the SoCon Player of the Year and SoCon Freshman of the Year, respectively. Additionally, Okawa, Steven Hernandez and Seth Wilson earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® recognition for their efforts on the pitch and in the classroom.

In his fourth season, Rich led the Spartans to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. UNCG finished the season with a 13-2-6 record, which matched the previous season in terms of wins but was outlasted it once again in the discussion of winning percentage (.762). Additionally, JC Ngando was named an All-American, making Rich's second student-athlete to accomplish the feat at UNCG. Marco Milanese was also named to the Academic All-America second team.

His third season at the helm saw the Spartans continue to raise the bar as they set another benchmark for winning percentage when they finished with a 13-4-1 (.750) mark. UNCG won The Southern Conference regular season crown for a second time under Rich and reached the semifinal round of the conference tournament. Leading UNCG on the pitch, Theo Collomb became Rich's first student-athlete to be named an All-American at UNCG. In goal, Niclas Wild earned his first of two back-to-back honors being named The Southern Conference Goalkeeper of the Year.

Rich's second season saw the Spartans win the Southern Conference Tournament championship and host a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament. In addition, the Spartans received votes in the final United Soccer Coaches poll of the 2021 spring season. UNCG finished with a 9-3-2 record and a .714 winning percentage, the best since 2005 (.717). Rich coached five players who earned All-SoCon recognition, including Collomb, who was named the Co-Freshman of the Year. Nationally, UNCG ranked 12th in total goals (27) and corner kicks per game (6.79), 19th in goal differential (+13), 20th in shots per game (14.64), 22nd in total points (73), 23rd in scoring offense (27), 30th in shots on goal per game (6.14), 32nd in winning percentage (.714), 33rd in total assists (19), 42nd in shutout percentage (.429), 43rd in points per game (5.21) and 49th in goals against average (.958).

In his first year, he led the Spartans to a Southern Conference Regular Season title in 2019, finishing with a 9-9-1 record, while going 5-1-0 in conference play. Entering the SoCon tournament as a No. 2 seed, UNCG reached as far as the conference final after defeating No. 6 Belmont in the semis. Senior Casey Penland earned the Spartans' first SoCon Player of the Year honor for the first time since 2015, with six players receiving conference postseason honors in all. Coach Rich's squad ranked second in the SoCon with a goals against average of 1.29, while shutting out five squads over the course of the season. Penland also earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors in his first season under Coach Rich, later signing a contract with USL club Charlotte Independence. 

Rich spent the previous 12 years as an assistant coach, with his three most recent stops being at Atlantic Coast Conference schools Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Success In The ACC
Over the past three seasons, Rich served as assistant men’s coach and recruiting coordinator at Duke, where he helped guide the Blue Devils to two NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances and finishes in the top 15 of the final United Soccer Coaches poll.

During that span, Duke also garnered 12 All-ACC selections including six last season, the most earned by the school in a single season since 2001. Additionally, the Blue Devils had a combined five players selected in the Major League Soccer Draft in 2017 and 2018.

In his role of recruiting coordinator, Rich secured three top-12 Top Drawer Soccer national recruiting classes while the men’s soccer team maintained a 3.3 cumulative team GPA.

During the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Rich was an assistant coach for North Carolina’s men’s soccer team, aiding in all aspects of running the program including recruiting, scouting, video analysis, practice and game preparation, and operations. In those two seasons, the Tar Heels won a combined 30 games and advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

In 2012 and 2013, Rich also served as an assistant coach with Virginia Tech where he oversaw scouting of opponents along with the development of First-Team All-ACC selection Kyle Renfro. Renfro was only the second Hokie to earn First-Team All-ACC honors.

Starting At His Alma Mater Before A Move To Division I
Rich began coaching in the Division I ranks in 2011 as an assistant coach at Florida International after spending four seasons at Barry (2007-10) – his alma mater -- as assistant coach.

While on Barry’s coaching staff, Rich was instrumental in the Bucs making two trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, Barry set a new program-record with four All-American selections.

Rich is also a scout for United States Soccer Federation and has been a national instructor for United Soccer Coaches since 2011. He earned his B.S. in Sport Management from Barry in 2006 and his M.S. in Sport Management from Barry in 2009, and is married to his wife, Korie Rich.