Oige Kennedy

Oige Kennedy has been a part of Stanford for six seasons now, culminating in two NCAA titles in 2016 and 2017. This most recent season marked his third in the role of associate head coach. 

Kennedy is also a two-time NCAA Division II national champion head coach at Fort Lewis College.
 
Serving as a coach on all levels of play and leading the recruiting efforts, Kennedy’s six years on The Farm have been immensely successful and included a pair of NCAA titles and four Pac-12 crowns.

Kennedy’s strength in coaching at each level of play have helped him influence the trajectory of many players, leading to 20 MLS draft picks over his coaching career, including two top-10 draft picks.

Most recently, Kennedy coached a Stanford team that featured four athletes with four or more assists on the year, including Ousseni Bouda’s nine which were ninth-most in the NCAA. Bouda was named Pac-12 player of the week twice during the regular season and he led the Cardinal in points, assists, and tied for the lead in goals.

Kennedy also coached Zach Ryan to a Pac-12 Player of the year during the 2020 season that culminated with an appearance in the third round of the NCAA tournament. In 2019, the Cardinal reached the College Cup Semifinal.

2020 graduate Andrew Thomas earned three All-Pac 12 first team honors in addition to placement on the United Soccer Coaches All-America third team in 2019 under the instruction of Kennedy. Thomas was key in Stanford's run to the 2019 NCAA semifinals, saving a combined five penalty kicks in two postseason shootouts. 
 
From 2015-18, Kennedy helped guide Stanford to an NCAA-record, 14-match postseason shutout streak that eventually reached 1,428:09. The Cardinal also engineered a nine-match shutout streak across the regular and postseasons in 2017 and 2018, the eighth-longest stretch in NCAA history.
 
Stanford’s 0.382 goals against average in 2017 set a Pac-12 record and was significantly better than the previous mark of 0.52 from UCLA in 2003. The Cardinal conceded only nine goals that season, a school-record low, and tied another program record with 16 total shutouts, last achieved in 2000.

In addition to his stellar record at coaching athletes, Kennedy has shown a great ability to find talent as well. During his coaching career, he has brought in recruiting classes ranked among the top-10 in the nation for seven consecutive years.
  
Kennedy, who amassed a 102-37-9 overall record in seven seasons leading the Skyhawks, won national championships in 2009 and 2011 and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) regular-season and postseason crowns those same seasons.
 
He first arrived at Fort Lewis in 2006 when he was hired as an assistant on Jeremy Gunn’s staff in Durango, Colorado. The Skyhawks went 21-2-1 that season and were national runners-up. Gunn left after the season to take over at Charlotte while Kennedy remained to work under Tim Hankinson in 2007-08, winning 33 more games and advancing to the NCAA Division II postseason both years.
 
Kennedy took the reins of Fort Lewis’ program in 2009 and continued the powerhouse’s push forward. Hired as interim head coach just weeks before his team was to report for preseason training, he became the first coach in NCAA history to guide a men’s soccer team to a national championship in his first year of collegiate coaching.
 
The Skyhawks started the year 3-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of Incarnate Word. Rebounding in emphatic fashion, FLC reeled off 21 straight wins to claim its second national championship in five years.
 
Kennedy duplicated the feat in 2011, as his team went 24-1 and added NCAA Division II, RMAC regular season, and RMAC championship trophies to their treasure chest.
 
In seven seasons at FLC, Kennedy complied a 102-37-9 overall record (.720) and was 65-25-5 (.718) in RMAC play. His teams were a perfect 10-0-0 in the NCAA playoffs and 12-4-2 in the RMAC tournament. In January 2012, he became the second Fort Lewis head man to be named NSCAA Division II Coach of the Year. Gunn earned the accolade in 2005 after guiding the Skyhawks to their first national crown.
 
Prior to coming to Fort Lewis, Kennedy played four years as a professional in Europe. He played several seasons for Ireland’s national youth teams. He also captained the Irish University team for two years.
 
His coaching experience includes work with the Manchester United Soccer School and Bobby Charlton Soccer School for six years. Kennedy, who hails from Dublin, Ireland, earned his bachelor’s degree in sport science from University College Dublin and a computer science diploma from Dublin Institute of Technology.