Briar Cliff Promotes De la Fuente Castro to Director of Soccer

(Sioux City, Iowa – April 1, 2026) After just one season as the Head Coach of the Men’s Soccer program, Luis De la Fuente has been elevated to the position of Director of Soccer for the Chargers. In his new duties, De la Fuente will serve as the leader of both the men and women’s programs. He will be in charge of all recruiting, fundraising, scheduling, instructional and administrative needs for the entire soccer operation at Briar Cliff. He will oversee all aspects of both on and off the field coaching, while serving as the leader of both programs. 

“This model of management is becoming more prevalent in collegiate soccer programs,” states Dan McDermott, Executive Director of Athletics. Luis is a rising star in the coaching ranks, and certainly a very talented and special individual. He is very deserving of this position, and our athletic program will be far better off with Luis at the helm.”

De la Fuente has named a very capable staff to support the goals of bringing more championships back to the program. Assisting on the Women’s side is Associate Head Coach Liam Brandso, while Yan Rosado will be the Associate Head Coach for the Men. Supporting them will be graduate assistants Patrick Wyatt and Hugo Mariage. Bernardo Torres is the assistant coach.

Coach De la Fuente was promoted to Head men’s soccer coach last fall after previously serving two seasons as a graduate assistant. This past season, the Chargers posted an 8-8-3 (4-4-2 GPAC) record and earned a berth in the GPAC Tournament. Their post-season resume included an upset win over second-seeded Midland University during the tournament. At the conclusion of the season, the Chargers landed three athletes on the All GPAC team with Alejandro Illan being named Conference Newcomer of the Year.

De la Fuente stated , “I am both thrilled and honored to be named to this prestigious position. Briar Cliff University is a dream job for me, and I look forward to helping build this program into a consistent regional and national contender.” The structure of the GPAC in soccer is such that the men and women games are scheduled back-to-back which will allow Coach De la Fuente to be the Head coach for both matches.

De la Fuente completed his Master’s Degree in Leadership and Sports Management at Briar Cliff in the spring of 2025. He earned his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the Universidad of Oviedo, Spain in May 2022 and also, an MBA from Tusculum University in the spring of 2024.