NAPERVILLE, Ill. – More than a dozen new head coaches will begin leading teams during fall competition in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW).
 
Cross Country
Matt Sinnott will be the interim men’s cross country head coach at North Central in 2022-23. A member of the Cardinals' coaching staff since 2013, Sinnott was a four-year member of North Central's cross country and track and field programs before graduating with a degree in physics. Sinnott coached at West Aurora High School for 10 years, achieving two top-16 team finishes at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Cross Country Championships.
 
Football
Former Millikin defensive coordinator Carlton Hall will officially take over as Big Blue football head coach for the 2022 season. He was chosen as MU’s new leader on Dec. 9, 2021. Prior to his arrival in Decatur, Hall spent three seasons at NAIA Southern Oregon as linebackers coach. Hall’s other coaching highlights include stops at Williams, Yale, Houston, and Harvard.
 
Brad Spencer is the new football head coach at North Central. Spencer, who succeeded Jeff Thorne after his departure to NCAA Division I, was chosen as the 26th head coach in program history on Jan. 26, 2022. The 2004 NCC graduate had been on the Cardinals’ coaching staff since graduating, serving as the team's assistant head coach and offensive coordinator since 2015 and playing a key role in the program's rise to national prominence at the NCAA Division III level.
 
Golf
John Blau is the new men’s and women’s golf head coach at Carroll. Blau joins Carroll from Waukesha West High School, where he has been an assistant coach of the boy's golf team since 2020. Blau also brings five years of golf industry experience, having held club professional positions at courses in Florida and Wisconsin, and a PGA internship at Whistling Straits. Blau has provided instruction to players of all levels and is currently in the PGA's Professional Golf Management program working toward his Class A membership.
 
Ryan Frederick is no stranger to North Park or the CCIW, having served as the Vikings’ men’s golf head coach for the past year, but Frederick is new to the women’s circuit as the Vikings begin sponsoring women’s golf in 2022. Frederick had previously been men's and women's assistant golf coach for his alma mater, the Lewis University Flyers in Romeoville, Illinois. He was named an NJCAA All-American at Moraine Valley Community College and was also an All-Region pick for Lewis in 2015.
 
North Central appointed Alyssa Guss as its new men’s and women’s golf head coach in early August 2022. Guss is the most decorated student-athlete in the history of the North Central women's program and brings nearly a decade of NCAA Division I coaching experience to the position. Guss was most recently head coach of the women's golf program at Oakland University (Michigan), after helping launch the Golden Grizzlies' program in 2014. Guss directed Oakland to its first conference championship and its first NCAA Division I Championship appearance while also coaching the program's first individual conference champion. Guss was voted Horizon League Coach of the Year four times.
 
Augustana promoted longtime women’s golf head coach Tom Lawrence to Director of Golf upon the conclusion of the spring 2022 season. He is first-ever Director of Golf at Augustana after spending nine seasons as the head coach of the women's program. He will be responsible for the management and oversight of the Vikings' men's and women's golf programs, a similar staffing model that is currently used by fellow CCIW schools Carthage, Millikin and North Central.
 
Men’s Soccer
Paul Leese is new men’s soccer head coach at Carthage, bringing nearly two decades of collegiate coaching experience. He was officially introduced as the new head coach of the Firebirds last February. Previously, he was the head coach of the men's soccer team at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley from 2014 to 2020, where he helped establish a nationally-ranked program, won five consecutive NSCAA/USC Team Academic Awards, and was named the 2018 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
 
Steve McCrath is the 18th head coach in Wheaton men’s soccer history after a February announcement from the Thunder. McCrath arrived at Wheaton from Barry University where he served as the head men's soccer coach from 1998-2022. He compiled a 241-135-39 record in 23 seasons with the Buccaneers. His Barry teams made nine NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, including the 2018 season that ended with a Division II National Championship and a 2000 National Runner-Up finish.
 
Women’s Soccer
Longtime collegiate head coach Oz Bakirdan will be in his first season directing Illinois Wesleyan women’s soccer this fall. Bakirdan joins the Titans after an accomplished coaching career at Illinois Central College. Bakirdan took over ICC's club program in 1998 before turning it into a NJCAA Division I power. A 10-time NJCAA Region 24 Coach of the year, Bakirdan led his men's teams to the national tournament eight times. He guided the ICC women’s team to its first winning record in six years, which included a MWAC Championship. 
 
At Wheaton, Patrick Gilliam is the new women’s soccer head coach of the Thunder after a quarter-century tenure at Trinity International in Deerfield, Ill. He is the third-winningest coach in NAIA women's soccer history with a career record of 342-168-28. His teams made six NAIA Tournament appearances, winning three Regionals. Gilliam guided the Trojans to five Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament Championships, and three CCAC regular season titles.
 
Triathlon
North Central announced Averi Lewis as its new triathlon head coach last April. Lewis, who will also coach the Cardinals’ women’s swimming and diving program, comes to North Central with nearly 10 years of coaching and leadership experience. In her most recent roles, she was the head age group & masters swim coach at the Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club as well as a triathlon coach with Matt Hanson Racing.
 
Women’s Volleyball
Cameron Andrew was named the 10th women’s volleyball head coach at Elmhurst on Feb. 1, 2022. Andrew joins the Bluejays after previously serving as the men’s and women’s head coach at nearby Dominican, where he won a combined 99 matches. Last spring, Andrew guided the DU men’s team to a 17-2 overall record and a spot in the NCAA Final Four. The team was ranked as high as third in the nation during the 2021 season.