University of Southern Mississippi Women's Soccer

Owens comes to Southern Miss after a standout 20-year tenure at William Carey University, where he built the Crusaders into one of the NAIA’s top programs. In 2024, he led Carey to a 20-2-1 record, a No. 5 final ranking in the Coaches Top 25 Poll, and the SSAC conference tournament championship, while advancing to the NAIA National Tournament for the 16th time under his leadership. Over the last 20 seasons, Carey posted 18 winning campaigns and compiled a 338-70-19 overall record, along with 12 regular-season conference titles and 11 conference tournament championships. His teams reached four national championship matches, won the 2018 national title, advanced to six Final Fours, and reached the quarterfinals or beyond 11 times. Owens’ staffs were named National Coaching Staff of the Year in 2018 and 2023, and he has earned multiple regional and conference accolades. Individually, he has coached nine conference players of the year, 16 first-team All-Americans, 56 All-Americans overall, and numerous academic honorees. Prior to William Carey, Owens was the head girls’ soccer coach at Our Lady Academy in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where his teams won three consecutive state championships. A former William Carey men’s soccer student-athlete, Owens earned All-Conference, All-Region, and First Team NAIA All-American honors and was inducted into the WCU Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. Owens holds a USSF National B License and United Soccer Goalkeeping I and II licenses. He earned his

Ryan Weir joins Southern Miss as associate head coach after 11 seasons on the women’s soccer staff at William Carey University. Since joining the Crusaders in 2014, he helped guide the program to a 213-26-9 overall record, including the school’s first NAIA National Championship in 2018 and multiple deep runs in the NAIA National Tournament. Weir played collegiately at William Carey from 2008-11, making 55 appearances and helping the 2011 team reach the NAIA National Championship Final Four. A native of Torquay, England, he earned his bachelor’s degree in history from William Carey in 2012 and later completed a master’s degree in interscholastic athletic administration in 2015.