Kyle Cussen - Women's Soccer Coach

Kyle Cussen

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
kyle-cussen@utulsa.edu
Phone:
3836

	The Cussen File

	PERSONAL INFORMATION
	Hometown: Moore, Oklahoma
	Education: Southern Nazarene University, 1994 (bachelor's in business administration)
	Playing Experience: 4-year letterman, Southern Nazarene, 1990-93
	Family: wife, Misti, and two children, Cassie and Caia

	COACHING EXPERIENCE
	2008-present: Tulsa, head coach
	1998-2007 Oral Roberts University, head coach

	TULSA HIGHLIGHTS
	- Five seasons with 10-plus wins - Tied the second-best mark of 13 wins in 2015 - Coached the 2014 American Rookie of the Year and 2016 Midfielder of the Year, Rachel Thun

	ORAL ROBERTS HIGHLIGHTS
	- Won three regular season Mid-Continent Conference titles - Led ORU to is first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in school history

Kyle Cussen was named the head coach of the Tulsa women’s soccer program on January 21, 2008, and is in his 13th year at the helm. In 22 years as a collegiate head coach, Cussen has compiled a 216-179-42 career record, including a 106-105-27 mark in 12 years with the Golden Hurricane.

Cussen is the winningest head women’s coach at both The University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University (110-74-15).

Under Cussen, the Hurricane has five seasons with 10-plus wins, including tying the second-best mark of 13 wins in 2015. Twenty student-athletes have earned all-conference honors, three were tabbed to the conference all-tournament team, Rachel Thun was selected as The American Rookie of the Year (2014) and Midfielder of the Year (2016), Jordan O’Brien was tabbed as the Conference USA Freshman of the Year (2010), 14 players received all-Rookie/Freshman accolades and five picked up NSCAA All-Region honors during Cussen’s tenure. TU student-athletes have also excelled in the classroom under Cussen’s direction, as the team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award five times in his tenure, 12 players received CoSIDA All-District honors while two went on to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team, and 267 (134 C-USA; 133 The American) student-athletes have earned conference academic accolades.

In 2019, Tulsa posted an 8-11 overall record, while Reagan Whitlow was tabbed to The American all-conference second team and Kayla Fernandez picked up all-Rookie team accolades.

Tulsa registered a 7-10-1 overall record in 2018, more than doubling their wins from the previous season. Anna Williams was tabbed to The American all-conference first team, while Mia Darden was a second-team all-conference selection and an all-Rookie team honoree.

In 2017, Tulsa recorded a 3-12-4 overall record as TU struggled to stay healthy with 17 different players suffering injuries on the year. Rachel Thun-Blankenship picked up first-team all-conference honors, making her a four-time first-team performer.

The Golden Hurricane tallied an 8-10-1 overall record, including a 4-5 mark in The American in 2016. Rachel Thun was tabbed as The American Midfielder of the Year and earned first team all-conference accolades, while Tana Dake picked up second-team all-conference honors and Anna Williams was named to the all-Rookie team.

In 2015, TU posted a 13-6-1 overall record, including a 4-4-1 mark in The American, marking the fifth-straight year for the Hurricane to post double-digit wins and a winning record. Rachel Thun and Tana Dake were tabbed to the all-conference team, while Danielle Hoover received all-Rookie team accolades.

During the 2014 season, TU tallied an 11-8-2 overall record and a 4-4-1 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Rachel Thun picked up American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year honors and was tabbed to both the all-conference and all-Rookie teams. Two others were tabbed to the all-Rookie team, while a TU player was named the league’s Player of the Week five times.

In 2013, Tulsa recorded an 11-6-4 overall mark and a 4-3-3 record in league play. TU posted 12 shutouts, a new school record, including five-straight to tie the previous best set in 2011. Jordan O’Brien was named to the All-C-USA second team and NSCAA All-Central Region team, while Lana Bermel picked up All-Freshman team accolades.

The 2012 season saw Tulsa post a 12-6-4 overall record and a 6-3-2 mark in Conference USA play. Tulsa advanced to the C-USA Championship match, three players were named to the All-C-USA teams, three were selected to the league’s all-tournament team and one was named to the all-freshman team.

In 2011, the Hurricane compiled a 10-8-3 overall record, marking the first time since 2000 that TU posted double-digit wins and had a winning record. Tulsa also advanced to the C-USA Championship for just the second time since joining the league in 2005. TU scored 29 goals, posted 11 shutouts, including five-straight, to set a new school record for both shutouts in a season and consecutive shutouts, and had three players named to the All-Conference USA teams.

TU posted an 8-9-2 overall record and picked up three wins in Conference USA play in the 2010 campaign. The Hurricane scored 31 goals, 18 of which were scored by freshmen, and had a .495 shots-on-goal percentage. For her efforts, Jordan O’Brien was tabbed as the C-USA Freshman of the Year, while both Claire Nicholson and O’Brien were selected to the All-Freshman Team and earned All-C-USA honors.

In 2009, the Hurricane concluded the season with a 7-10-2 overall record, including five shutout victories, and a 4-7 mark in C-USA. Four players earned All-C-USA accolades, the first for Tulsa since joining the league in 2005.

In his first year at Tulsa, Cussen took a team that posted a 3-14-2 mark and scored just seven goals in the previous year to an 8-9-3 record and 41 goals in 2008. He nearly tripled the amount of wins and his team scored almost six times as many goals. TU had seven shutouts on the season, and 17 student-athletes scored a goal, including 11 that scored multiple goals.

Cussen was the head women’s coach at Oral Roberts University from 1998-2007. He posted an overall record of 110-74-15 in his 10 seasons, while compiling an eight-year conference mark of 35-15-8.

During his ORU tenure, Cussen’s teams won three regular season Mid-Continent Conference titles (2000, 2002 and 2004) and two Mid-Con Tournament crowns (1999, 2004), while appearing in the Mid-Con Tournament Championship game for six straight seasons (1999-2004). Cussen also led ORU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s 12-year history in 2004.

In his time at ORU, Cussen coached 46 all-conference performers, 22 Mid-Con all-tournament team selections and five Mid-Continent Player of the Year honorees. He had one player earn Mid-Con Newcomer of the Year honors and had two Mid-Con Tournament MVP selections. Cussen also had 64 student-athletes earn academic all-conference accolades during his tenure, while three of his players earned all-Central Region honors.

Cussen was named the Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 after leading his team to the regular season championship, while going undefeated in league action.

An Oklahoma native, Cussen played collegiately at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla. He graduated from SNU in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Cussen then served as an assistant women’s soccer coach for the SNU Redskins, helping to build a program in its early stages. While there, Cussen helped the team post an overall 51-9-1 record and qualify for the NAIA Regional all three years, including an NAIA Final Four berth in 1995.

Cussen spent time playing professionally for the Oklahoma City Slickers and the Tulsa Roughnecks. In 1999, he earned a master’s degree in education at ORU.

He and his wife, Misti, who is the head women’s basketball coach at Oral Roberts University, have two daughters: Cassie Grace and Caia Faith.