Ryan Swan will enter his ninth season as head coach of the Drury men's soccer team in 2017 having already stamped himself as one of the most successful leaders in the program's history.
Swan has amassed a record of 106-47-8 mark (.658) in his eight seasons as DU's head coach after serving as the Panthers' assistant coach for three seasons prior to moving into the top spot in 2009.
That includes four NCAA-II Tournament appearance in seven seasons (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016), with the 2014 Panthers finishing 16-5-0 and reaching the second round of the NCAA postseason before falling 3-2 to top seed Quincy on the Hawks' home field.
Swan's 2014 Panthers also completed a 9-0-0 campaign at home, a first for the program, where they shut out eight of the nine opponents and outscored their foes 23-1.
This past season Swan's Panthers advanced farther than any other previous squad making it to the third round of the NCAA-II National Tournament.
Under Swan, the Panthers are 78-34-7 (.655) in eight seasons of Great Lakes Valley Conference play, having made the league's eight-team post-season field all seven times and are 56-16-3 (.747) in home matches, the majority at Harrison Stadium with an occasional match at the Cooper Soccer Complex in Springfield.
Swan's inaugural DU squad went 21-2 overall, captured the program's first Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and post-season tournament titles and made the program's inaugural NCAA-II Tournament appearance, reaching the Sweet 16 before a home loss to Lewis. Swan was rewarded with the GLVC's "Coach of the Year' distinction for his efforts in 2009 with a team that was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally and shattered the majority of DU school records in the best season in the program's history.
His 2012 edition of the Panthers, despite featuring no senior starters, made it two NCAA-II tourney trips in four years for Swan with a 12-5-2 overall finish after DU was knocked out of NCAA post-season play with an opening-round loss to Notre Dame (Ohio), prompting a high level of optimism for 2013 with virtually every key player returning this fall.
Swan had spent the 2008 campaign as the associate head coach for both the Drury men's and women's soccer teams after moving up from an assistant coach's title with the squads since arriving at DU in 2006, all the while playing an integral role as then-head coach Alf Bilbao's right-hand man as the Panthers continued their climb into Great Lakes Valley Conference and NCAA-II contenders.
With Swan on the sidelines as an assistant in 2008, both Drury squads made the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, a first for the men's program. He was also instrumental in helping the DU women capture their first GLVC championship and reach the NCAA-II Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time in the program's history in 2007.
A former player for Bilbao at Truman State, Swan spent two seasons as the men's soccer assistant coach at Columbia (Mo.) College and as director of the Columbia Soccer Club before joining the Panthers.
Swan was raised in Perth, Scotland and attended Perth High School. Following high school, Swan played four years of semi-pro soccer with Couper Angus in Scotland where he was selected All-Region.
Swan attended Truman State from 1998-2000, earning a B.A. in Communication Science and playing for Bulldog teams that went a combined 40-14-5. He was an NSCAA All-Region First Team performer for two years, and in '98, was named to the MIAA All-Conference Second Team. He was selected as the Bulldogs' Most Valuable Player following his senior season.
Following college, Swan played semi-pro soccer with the Kansas City Brass and Des Moines Menace. He spent two years coaching with Major League Soccer Camps in California before joining the William Woods (Mo.) coaching staff in Fulton as a graduate assistant for two seasons.
Swan holds the United State Soccer Federation "A" instructor license and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America "Premier" Diploma.
Swan and wife Courtney reside in Springfield, where they have a young son, Callum (6), and twins Ella and Luca who will be two in August.
