Four New Coaches Take Over ODAC Programs

New coaches often mean changes in athletic programs, and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference will see four new head soccer coaches this fall.

Robert Richardson, Chris Mills and Ryan Pflugrad will assume the reins of three men’s programs, while Michael Shenigo is the new women’s head coach at Guilford College.

Richardson is the new Emory & Henry College men’s coach, coming to the Wasps after serving as an assistant coach at Brevard college in 2012. Pre[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]vious to that, he was an assistant at Earlham in Indiana and Tusculum in Tennessee.

Mills is a familiar face at Virginia Wesleyan college, having been an outstanding player for VWC and an assistant coach for the last five seasons.

Mills moves up to the top job as the program’s 11th head coach in the 45-year history of the program.

He replaces Jeff Bowers, who remains on staff as associate athletic director and women’s head soccer coach. Mills is a Virginia Beach native.

Pflugrad is also a returning alum as he takes over the Roanoke College men’s soccer program from his collegiate coach Scott Allison, who is now the Maroons’ fulltime director of athletics.

Pflugrad returns to Roanoke after spending six years as Associate Head Men’s Coach at the University of Denver. He also was on the coaching staff at Wake Forest University. That was the season the Demon Deacons won their first ACC championship.

Shenigo became Guilford College’s ninth women’s soccer coach in the program’s 24-year history when he was hired earlier this summer.

This marks the first head coaching position for the former University of Scranton and Lynchburg College assistant. He replaces Eric Lewis, who left Guilford to become the head coach at Lycoming College in June.

Shenigo spent two seasons training goalkeepers and defenders on Scranton teams that went 22-11-8.

He completed his playing career at Lynchburg in 2008.