Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech head coach Mike Brizendine fresh off of his 100th career victory announced the addition of Blake Mullen to his staff Wednesday as a volunteer assistant coach.
Mullen, a collegiate goalkeeper at Saint Joseph's College of Maine, will train the squad's goalkeepers as well as assist in the vision of Coach Brizendine with all aspects of the program.
At Saint Joseph's, Mullen racked up numerous accolades including; All-American, New England Best XI, and three-time conference Goalkeeper of the Year and three-time first team All-GNAC.
In his career, Mullen owned a stellar 0.31 goals against average and a .889 save percentage. He was 58-6-7 and has 36 career shutouts in 71 appearances for the Monks.
The Manchester, Connecticut native graduated in 2019 with a degree in business and sport management.
"I am very excited to have Blake here on staff as a part of Hokie Nation," Brizendine commented. "We have been blessed in getting great people to be a part of our group. In the short time that he has been with us, he has put in a ton of hours and has done a fantastic job working with both the staff and the players."
Mullen is stepping in for Kyle Renfro the former first team All-ACC goalkeeper who came back to Blacksburg to join the Hokies' staff in 2018. Renfro has accepted a position as an assistant coach at Duke.
Last year Renfro helped develop Mathijs Swaneveld, who in his first season with the Hokies earned third team All-ACC honors after leading the conference in saves.
"I'm ecstatic for Kyle and his new position at Duke," continued Brizendine. "I think John Kerr and the Blue Devils are fortunate to have him there because he will do a great job for them and work tirelessly. My personal goal for my assistants and my players is to try and get them to where they want to be in life and help them reach their goals. I believe in Kyle's case, we were able to do that so I am excited for him."
Renfro joins a long list of former assistants and volunteer coaches who have made an impact on the program and currently serve is coaching roles across the country.
Jeff Kinney
- Served for seven seasons as an assistant and later the associate head coach of the Hokies. In the December of 2018, he was named the head coach of the UAB Blazers
Ryan Hulings
- Hulings now serves as the goalkeeper coach at UMass. He helped develop All-ACC talent Ben Lundgaard, who was drafted in the first round of the MLS Draft in 2018.
Cory Speed
- Now the head men's soccer coach at Guilford College, Speed was a part of the staff in Blacksburg in 2015.
Matt Gow
- Gow went on to an assistant coaching position at Pacific University in California and has since became the head coach at Ottawa University.
Chris Rich
- Rich was the volunteer assistant coach who trained goalkeepers, including nurturing Renfro in 2013 when he earned first team All-ACC honors. Rich has had stops in Chapel Hill, Durham and took over as the head coach at UNC Greensboro in 2019.
Jesse Meich
- Meich would go on to be the head coach at Illinois Springfield for five seasons before moving to Northern Illinois where he is an assistant coach.
The Hokies, who moved up to tenth in the United Soccer Coaches Poll Tuesday afternoon will travel to the campus of JMU this weekend for the Fairfield Inn by Marriott JMU Invitational. The Hokies will take on Loyola at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 6 and Hofstra on Sunday at 4 p.m.