RUSTON, La. ? Louisiana Tech announced the hiring of Kevin Sherry as its new head soccer coach Friday. Sherry takes over the Lady Techster program after building successful teams at Western Illinois and Graceland University. Sherry has compiled a 72-30-14 record as a head coach in the NAIA and NCAA coaching ranks.

Before taking over at Western Illinois, the Westerwinds went 3-12-3. In 2005, he led Western Illinois to a six-and-a-half game improvement to finish 9-6-3, the best record in school history at the time. This season, the Westerwinds went 11-7-1 and advanced to the Mid-Con Championship finals and lost in a penalty kick shootout.

Tech senior women?s administrator Mary Kay Hungate said Sherry fit the bill for Louisiana Tech as its next a head women?s soccer coach.

?Coach Sherry is exactly what we were looking for in a person to lead this program. He has developed two programs into winners and he believes Louisiana Tech has the same potential,? Hungate said. ?He is not only a team builder but a program builder who has a reputation for developing the complete student-athlete. Coach Sherry has proven he has the ability to lead Louisiana Tech soccer to the next level.?

Sherry said he believes he can take the Lady Techster soccer program to the next level because of the experience he has gained turning two previous programs into winners. He added leaving Western Illinois was a difficult decision because of the success he had there, but believes coming to Louisiana Tech is the right fit for him and the program.

?The fact that it?s another challenge attracted me to the job,? Sherry said. ?I?ve done it twice. The things I?ve learned, I know I can turn this program around. The challenge is exciting, and it will be nice to be in a program that is fully funded and supported by the administration.?

At Graceland University, Sherry turned around a program that won just one game the previous season going 1-13-0. His first season with the Yellowjackets, Sherry led Graceland to a 7-7-1 record. In his fourth season Graceland went undefeated at 18-0-5 and reached the NAIA Final Four. Sherry was named National Soccer Coaches Association of America Central Region NAIA Women?s Coach of the Year.

Western Illinois had one of the top overall team GPA?s in the nation as well, which is something Sherry will encourage the players at Tech to achieve.

?I put a lot of emphasis on hard work, not only on the soccer field but in the classroom and in the community,? Sherry said. ?I think it?s only fair that we strive to have a very successful soccer program both on the field and in the classroom.?

Lady Techster forward Emily Cleaveland said she is ready to hit the field for workouts with Coach Sherry and believes his experience in building programs will help Tech?s young program very much.

?He has experience he can bring to the team and be able to share it with us,? Cleaveland said. ?I can?t wait to start working out. I?m counting down the days. I think everybody?s a little nervous and excited. This will bring a lot of excitement to the season and be a very positive thing.?

Sherry said he has not met with the players face-to-face yet but has spoken with them via email and is looking forward to showing them his dedication and passion for the game and to see theirs. On his job interview, Sherry said he was impressed with the pride they take in being successful.

?I know the players there want to be successful,? Sherry said. ?In their locker room I saw a piece of paper they had all written on about them winning a 7-v-7 tournament, and I could tell by the words they had written on it they were excited and wanted success. To see that makes me excited to be there because they want to be successful and I want to be successful.?

Sherry has international coaching experience as well. He coached at Nagoya Gakuin University in Japan as well as the Aichi F.C. Nagoya Junior Youth team. Sherry coached the Des Moines Menace, an under-15 boys team from the Iowa Olympic Development Program. He has also coached high school and select teams in his native England early in his career with much success.