Council Bluffs, IA
Preparations for a delayed season continue for Reivers Men's Soccer.
Second-year head coach Mike Brown was pleased to welcome a pair of new staff members to the Reivers program with the recent additions of Jermaine Birriel and Jose Escobedo.
"We are thrilled to add two people of immense character to our program and staff," said Brown, "As a player, Jose was very loyal and a tireless worker and we have already seen those traits in his new position. In Jermaine, we are getting another individual who not only has a strong work rate but gives our staff more NCAA Division 1 experience. Both of them have been excellent additions and are committed to helping this program reaching the next level."
Coach Birriel comes to Council Bluffs from Harrisonburg, Virginia where he served as the Director of Soccer Operations for the Men's program at James Madison University, helping to guide JMU to the program's seventh CAA championship and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Dukes hosted a first-round match, the first at Sentara Park, and the first time JMU hosted a Men's Soccer NCAA Tournament match since 2011.
As director of operations, Birriel assisted with logistics and team travel arrangements and equipment, as well as maintained statistics and community service hours at JMU. He also assisted with the facilitation of camps and aided the rest of the coaching staff in the day-to-day operations of the program. Coach Birriel worked his way through the ranks at JMU, first joining the program as a student manager in 2018.
Escobedo is very familiar with Coach Brown, Prior to coming to Council Bluffs, Jose in two seasons under Coach Brown as an All-Conference and All-Region performer for Barton Community College before rounding out his collegiate career at Kansas Wesleyan where he was All-Region Second Team both seasons with the Coyotes.
This will be his first collegiate coaching position.
"I am beyond grateful for this opportunity to join Iowa Western and I look forward to helping the program and the players become successful on and off the field", says Coach Escobedo.
Coach Birriel will primarily serve as the leader for the Reivers reserve squad and assist with the daily operations of the first team along with the rest of the Reivers' coaching staff, while Jose will work with all aspects of the program including working with the first and reserve squads.
Follow the Men's Soccer team on Twitter https://twitter.com/ReiverSoccer and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ReiverSoccer/ for the latest on this year's team.
