Ben Munger enters his second season as an assistant coach for head coach Todd Yelton and the Samford University soccer team. Munger, who came to Samford from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is in charge of the development of the goalkeepers.
Munger spent the past two seasons as the goalkeepers coach at UAB, where he coached Conference USA Goalkeeper of the Year Kelsey Daugherty, who currently plays for Fortuna Hjorring in the Champions League. Daugherty, who also garnered C-USA First Team All-Conference and First Team All-South Region, closed her career with .783 save percentage, ranking third in UAB history. She finished her time in Birmingham with 28 career wins and 6,462 minutes played, both of which rank second on the UAB charts.
He also recruited and developed Eve Beyer, who was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team and Third Team All-Conference honors. Beyer's .823 save percentage is the fifth best single season mark and her 0.93 goals against average is fourth in UAB history.
As a team, UAB was second in C-USA with a goal against average of 1.12, only surrendering 19 goals in 17 matches including seven shutouts.
Prior to his time at UAB, Munger spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Akron, where he worked primarily with the goalkeepers. While at Akron, he recruited and coached then Zips freshman keeper Amani Jiu, who was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team after leading the conference in saves (101 overall/65 MAC) and saves per game (5.32 overall/5.91 MAC). In addition, Jiu was tied for sixth in shutouts (4 overall/2 MAC) and eighth in shutouts per game (0.21).
Munger began his collegiate coaching career as the men's assistant coach at Tennessee Wesleyan University in 2015 while also serving as the goalkeeper coach for the women’s team that season.
A standout on the pitch for Maryville College, Munger was a four-year starter in goal for the Scots. During his career, he was ranked third in NCAA Division III in save percentage and 26th in goals against average. In 2011, he was named to the Great South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman team. Munger was a three-time USA South Academic All-Conference team selection. In 2014, he was named USA South First-Team All-Conference.
A leader on and off the field, Munger was named Team Captain his senior season and was president of Maryville’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Munger, who was named to the MC Dean’s list for seven-straight semesters, earned a bachelor's degree in business with a minor in Spanish.
After completing his career at Maryville, he served as the goalkeeper coach for both of Maryville High School's soccer teams, including the 2015 girls’ season where the team finished with a 17-1-2 record, including 11 shutouts.
Munger has also worked with goalkeepers at both at FC Alliance and the University of Tennessee summer camps.
In addition to coaching, Munger has spent time leading trips to Nicaragua with VISIONS Service Adventures, an organization that works with high school students doing service projects abroad.
