 Head
Coach
Dr. Darin White
e-mail: dwhite@uu.edu
Dr. Darin White will begin his
third season
as the head coach for the Bulldogs.
A native of Alabama, White earned his Bachelor
of Arts degree from Birmingham-Southern College in 1989. He received the degrees of
Master of Arts (1992) and Doctor of Philosophy (1995) from the University of Alabama.
This past January, White received his National Coaching
License form the National Soccer Coaches Association of
America.
White's soccer career began in high school
where he helped guide the Vestavia Hills High School team to a state championship in 1984.
In both 1983 and 1984 White was named Team Captain for the Alabama State Olympic
Development Team and was selected as a pool player for the South East Olympic Development Team in
1983.
Playing for the nationally-recognized Panthers
at Birmingham-Southern, White received the Best Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987
and the Most Determination Award in 1988. White was the only player from Southern to make
the All-Tournament Team for the South Carolina Spartanburg Soccer Tournament in 1987.
Playing soccer in over 20 international matches, White has played in countries such
as Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, and Austria.
White was responsible for coaching the Union
Club Soccer team before beginning the varsity program here at Union. In his first season
as head coach of the Bulldog Soccer program, White led the team to a NCCAA MidEast
Regional title and an automatic berth into the eight team national championship
tournament. This was accomplished by defeating the number one LONGO ranked team in
the country in a penalty kick shoot out. In doing this, Union became the first ever,
first-year program to qualify for the National Christian College Athletic Association's
national tournament.
His second season
at the helm was truly historic. The Bulldogs achieved
their first ever national ranking when College Soccer
Weekly ranked the team #1 in the country for two weeks in
September. They also spent several weeks ranked in the
NAIA top 25. In addition, the Bulldogs achieved the
longest winning streak in school history when they started the
season with 11 straight victories. Union's defense
finished the year ranked 9th nationally, only allowing a
stellar 1.16 goals against average. The season ended
with the team winning over 70% of its games with a 14-5
regular season record. The Bulldogs finished the year as
the #3 seed in the NCCAA National Championship tournament in
Orlando, FL.
White has earned numerous recognitions in the
area of marketing and is Assistant Professor of Business here at Union. White and
his wife Laura have five children, Daniel (7), Corey (6), Avery
(4), Bethany (3) and
Hannah (1).
Coaching
Records (Year by Year)
| Year |
Head
Coach |
Record |
| 1999 |
Dr.
Darin White |
14-5 |
| 1998 |
Dr.
Darin White |
6-16-2 |
 Senior Assistant Coach
Russ White
Russ White (Coach "Dad") is a 1965 graduate of
Henderson State University in Arkansas. During his high school
and college years, he was involved with several sports teams
and excelled in basketball where he earned All-State honors.
He served two years as an officer in the Army Chemical
Corps before joining Pfizer as a sales representative in 1967.
He has been employed by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. for the
past 32 years and has served in several different capacities.
The majority of these years (25) have been in management where
he has successfully lead various management teams. On several
occasions his teams have won the top national honor. He was
inducted into Pfizer's Hall of Fame in 1995 and continues to
serve as a management consultant for the company.
Coach White's many years of experience in building highly
successful teams, both in the sports world and the business
world, will be a valuable asset to the Bulldog program.
 Senior Assistant Coach
Dr. James Huggins
Dr. Huggins returns for his third season as an assistant
coach for the Union University Bulldogs. During high school,
Huggins participated in a number of individual and team
sports, excelling in the sprint events of track and field.
However, he continued the sport of boxing into his college
years. Coach Huggins began coaching multiple sports in youth
leagues over 15 years ago, but only last year attempted
coaching at the collegiate level. Huggins graduated with his
BSA (1975) and his MS (1977) from Arkansas State University.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Memphis in 1985.
He has done additional study at the University of Memphis, the
University of Tennessee, Memphis and Mid-America Seminary. He
is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology.
Dr. Huggins serves in many roles for the soccer program --
but one of his most important is "Academic Coach".
In this role he tracks and monitors our players academic
progress throughout their four year career. One of the main
things the coaching staff requires to be a part of this team
is ACADEMIC EFFORT. The players that help us the most will
naturally keep their priorities straight: soccer a high
second, but academics an undisputed first. On the first day of
summer camp you will be ask to turn a copy of your schedule
into our Academic Coach. We track your class attendance and
performance. To be part of the Union Bulldog team you must
commit yourself to not skipping classes and making the best
grades possible. We expect to have the highest GPA average of
any team on campus.
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