Southern Nazarene (1994)
10th season
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One of the nation's most successful young coaches, Kyle Cussen enters his 10th season as head coach at Oral Roberts University. Cussen ranks among the nation's winningest active head coaches with a 102-65-12 (.611) career record.
During Cussen's tenure, the Golden Eagles have won three Mid-Continent Conference regular season championships, along with two Mid-Con Tournament crowns. Cussen led ORU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the program's 12-year history in 2004. ORU appeared in the Mid-Con Tournament championship game for six straight seasons between 1999 and 2004.
Cussen eclipsed the century mark in wins in the 2006 season after the Golden Eagles defeated regional rival Missour State, 1-0. Although the squad did not qualify for the postseason, ORU won four of its last seven games with all four wins coming as shutouts.
While the Golden Eagles failed to advance to the post-season for the first time in Cussen's tenure in 2005, the team reached double figures in wins (10) for the eighth consecutive season.
In 2004, the Golden Eagles broke into the NSCAA/adidas Central Region Top 10 Poll for the first time in school history on November 9. ORU finished tied at No. 10 in the season's final poll. ORU was also ranked No. 14 in the final Soccer Buzz Central Region Top 15 Poll.
During his time at ORU Cussen has established himself as a solid recruiter. The 2004 newcomers entered the season as the first ranked recruiting class in school history when Soccer Buzz ranked the rookies 27th in the central region. ORU's recruiting class was ranked third in the state of Oklahoma, behind Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The newcomers combined for seven goals, 11 assists and 25 points in their first season in an ORU uniform. Two freshmen earned first-team all-conference honors, while one earned second-team all-conference honors in 2004. Cussen also recruited senior Jessica Kellogg (2004 Mid-Con Offensive Player of the Year) and junior Gentry Detter (2004 Mid-Con Defensive Player of the Year).
Cussen's teams have also excelled in the classroom. His team earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2002-03 school year. ORU was only one of 48 schools to have both their men's and women's programs with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The women earned a 3.34, while the men posted a 3.07.
Cussen was handed the reigns of the women's program in December of 1997 after current men's soccer head coach Steve Hayes established the program that began in 1993.
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 the assistant women's soccer coach for the Redskins, helping to build a program in its early stages. While there, Cussen helped the team qualify for the NAIA Regionals 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.
Kyle and wife Misti, an ORU women's basketball assistant coach are the parents of daughter Cassie Grace (3).
