Coach Santos enters his fourth season in charge of the men’s soccer program, with an overall record of 25-24-8, as Lyon enters its first year of full membership with the NCAA. Under his leadership, the Scots have won SLIAC Regular Conference Titles in both 2023 and 2024, as well as a USCAA DI Men’s Soccer National Championship in 2024.
Originally from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Santos landed at Lyon in the Fall of 2018, as a transfer student athlete from Jacksonville College, in Jacksonville, Texas. In two years defending the Scots, he appeared in all 39 possible games, making 34 starts, with 13 goals and 16 assists, He helped the team to reach the AMC championship game in both 2018 and 2019, and to an NAIA national tournament appearance in 2019 as one of the team captains. He earned AMC first team all conference honors in both 2018 and 2019, also being selected to the Academic All-District Team By CoSIDA in 2019. Coach Santos also has a background playing in semi professional summer leagues in the U.S, with a stint at NPSL side Tyler FC in 2018, and two stints with USL 2 side Kalamazoo FC, in 2019 and 2021, when he was part of the team that won the Great Lakes division, and reached the final eight of the national tournament.
In 2020, Santos graduated from Lyon with a bachelor's degree in business administration and a minor in physical education, with honors. He immediately became part of the previous coaching staff led by David Groves, taking a volunteer position. In two years as an assistant, he helped the program to a 22-9-3 record. In 2021, the Scots were both AMC regular conference and tournament champions, winning its first ever game in the NAIA National tournament, and finishing the season ranked 19th in the country. In May of 2022, with the departure of the previous staff, Santos was named the seventh Scots head men’s soccer coach. Other coaching experiences include a stint with FC Dallas Searcy Youth, and return to USL 2 side Kalamazoo FC in the summer of 2023 as an assistant coach, a position that he currently holds as well. Coach Santos resides in Batesville with his wife Kelcey.
2022:
- 3-13-3
- AMC Tournament Appearance
- 2 All Conference Selections
2023:
11-6-1 (7-1-1 SLIAC)
- SLIAC Regular Conference Champions
- USCAA National Tournament Bid (1-1 Record)
- 7 SLIAC All Conference Selections
- SLIAC Defenseive Player of the Year
- 5 USCAA All American Selections
- SLIAC Coach of the Year
- USCAA DI Coach of the Year
2024:
11-5-4
- SLIAC Regular Conference Champions
- USCAA DI National Champions (3-0 Record)
- 7 SLIAC All Conference Selections
- SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year
- 2 USCAA All American Selections
- 4 USCAA All Tournament Selections
- USCAA Tournament MVP
