Dec. 21, 2011
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By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF women's soccer associate head coach Colby Hale has accepted the first head coaching position of his career as he will take over at Arkansas the university announced Tuesday. Hale has been a member of Amanda Cromwell's coaching staff the past nine seasons at UCF.
"Colby has been an integral part of our success over the past nine years," Cromwell said. "He was key in bringing in great recruits as our recruiting coordinator and made sure the program was always going in the right direction. We will miss him, but know that his time was due to become a head coach and we wish him well at Arkansas."
Serving as the recruiting coordinator, Hale continually reeled top-notch talent at UCF that helped the program reach its fifth-consecutive postseason in 2011, including a run to the NCAA Elite Eight one month ago. Hale brought in six classes ranked among the nation's best, including the No. 24 class in 2006 and the No. 39 class in 2008.
The Knights reached the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament in 2011 for the first time since 1987 and knocked off past national champions Florida and North Carolina as a part of an epic postseason run.
Hale's on-field coaching responsibilities included game planning the Knights' attack. Over the course of his nine years on campus, Hale has seen UCF's offense score 401 goals. He guided 29 offensive players to all-conference honors, while 22 received all-region recognition.
At Arkansas, Hale will take over a Razorback squad that went 4-14 in 2011 and is in search of its first NCAA Tournament appearance.