Oral Roberts Announces Soccer Coaching Changes

With the recent resignation of longtime ORU men's soccer coach Steve Hayes, the ORU athletics department has named Ryan Bush as the new head coach for the men's soccer team, while Roger Bush will take over as the head coach for the women's soccer team.

"We are excited to have Ryan and Roger in these new positions and believe the future is bright for both soccer programs," said ORU Director of Athletics Mike Carter. "Being able to hire people who have already been involved with the programs will allow us to move forward with very little disruption to either team."

A 2003 graduate of ORU, Ryan helped the Golden Eagles capture the 2001 Mid-Continent Conference regular season championship as a player. He returned to his alma mater as an assistant men's soccer coach in 2004, helping ORU to a No. 23 ranking, the highest in school history. He was an assistant for four years, and the Golden Eagles qualified for the four-team Summit League Tournament each season.

"Ryan did an outstanding job as both a men's assistant and women's head coach, and I know that this transition will be more of the same," said Carter. "He is a tremendous coach and will have the opportunity to have success early because of his familiarity with the university and program."

Roger has been both a volunteer and full-time assistant for the women's soccer team for the past four years. He has head coaching experience at Charles Page High School, helping 10 players earn all-state recognition and earning 6A District Coach of the Year in 2003. A 1996 graduate of the University of Tulsa, Roger has also spent time working with the West Side Alliance Soccer Club in Tulsa, overseeing a staff of 30 professional coaches and more than 50 volunteers. He has grown the club from four teams to 27 and helped approximately 75 players earn college scholarship aid. He was the Oklahoma Soccer Association Men's Coach of the Year in 2001 and has led seven different teams to national top-50 rankings.

"Roger has had coaching success at many different levels and we expect that he will experience similar success as the head coach," said Carter. "He is well respected by the soccer community in Tulsa and is already familiar with the program having spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach."

The men's team narrowly missed the Summit League tournament in 2012, while the women's team finished 12-7-2, the second highest win total in school history.

Hayes leaves ORU having amassed 106 career wins over 15 seasons as the men's head coach. He won Summit League Coach of the Year honors in 2004 and has three offensive players of the year, three newcomers of the year and 11 NSCAA All-Region selections to his credit. Hayes also served as the head coach of the women's program and also as a men's assistant under Doug Techanchuk.