Idaho State University Women's Soccer

Dustin Downey enters his fourth season at Idaho State after he was named the Head Coach of the Idaho State Soccer program by Athletic Director Pauline Thiros at the beginning of the new year in 2022. Downey comes to Idaho State with extensive coaching experience at the high school, club, ODP and NCAA Division I levels.  Here are Thiros first comments about Downey, “Coach Downey has an impressive body of work at the Division I level. He is known to be an exceptional recruiter, and has been touted by elite players as their most influential coach. Dustin is a great technician, a culture builder, and his enthusiasm for the game and for student athletes is tremendous. He is the right person to take Bengal Soccer into the future!”  Dustin is originally from Owenton, Kentucky but he most recently has been the head coach of the Chicago FC United team and he spent two years at Illinois-Chicago. From 2019-20 he was an assistant coach for the Flames. In 2019, the staff was named the Horizon League Coaching Staff of the Year as it broke records for home, road and conference wins. He served as Interim Head Coach in the 2021 season, taking the Flames to their best start in program history and finishing 5-3-1 for the abbreviated Covid season.  Downey served as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky from 2012-19 where the team tallied 64 wins and 19 draws. While at WKU he mentored one Conference Player of the Year, 29 All-Conference players and six All-Region honorees. During his tenure at WKU the staff was recognized as both the Sun Belt and Conference USA Coaches of the Year, making postseason appearances in five of the seven years.  He worked with the US Soccer Federation from 2014-19 and the Kentucky ODP staff from 2015-19.  As a player, Downey played three seasons at Western Kentucky before finishing his career at Northern Kentucky. Downey helped lead the Norse, then in Division II, to the national semi-finals.  He returned to Western Kentucky to complete his studies and earn his degree in Broadcast Communications and TV Production.  Downey has his United State Soccer Federation (USSF) A-Senior Coaching License and is currently working to be a USSF Coach Educator.   He is married to Kelley Downey and they have a miniature goldendoodle named Winston.  

Adam Nerio enters his second season at Idaho State University for Fall 2024. Nerio comes to Idaho State from San Antonio, TX where he was the Assistant Womens Soccer Coach at St. Marys University since Fall of 2019. Nerio helped the St. Mary's Women's Soccer Team earn its first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the fifth seed in the South-Central Region for the Fall 2023 season, just one week after playing in its first-ever Lone Star Conference (LSC) Tournament semifinal. The Rattlers concluded one of the best seasons in school history with an overall 12-5-4 record. In addition, Nerio also helped produce a total of seven players to the All-Conference Teams including two seniors named to the All-Conference First-Team for the second straight year, and one named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South-Central Region Second Team. Briefly serving as the Interim Head Womens Soccer Coach after his first season in 2019, Nerio helped Head Coach Kevin Driggs lead the Rattlers to their first postseason appearance since 2016 with a spot in the 2020 Lone Star Conference Quarterfinals. The team adjusted to a shortened spring season during the pandemic and sported a .500 regular season record. For the Fall 2021 season, the Rattlers earned the five seed (.615 pct.); which was their best finish in conference play since 2010. Nerio also helped train the goalkeepers with two named to the Lonestar All-Conference team from the Spring and Fall 2021 season. Before arriving at St. Marys, Nerio spent one season as the Assistant Mens Soccer Coach at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas. Before entering the college coaching ranks at Schreiner, Nerio spent two years coaching with the New York Red Bulls Youth Training Programs in Westchester, New York. There, Nerio trained high-level club teams ranging from U9 - 17 boys and girls while also serving as lead trainer for his Region in Westchester, New York. A native of San Antonio, Nerio earned an NCAA DI athletic scholarship for cross-country at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, while also playing for the mens soccer team.  Majoring in health and exercise science and graduating with a Bachelor of Science from Centenary, Nerio earned his Master of Arts degree in Public History at St. Marys University as a Distinguished Graduate where he was also the recipient of the Presidential Award in 2021, one of the highest honors at St. Mary's University based on leadership, service, and academic excellence. Nerio currently resides in Pocatello, ID and holds both a USSF coaching license and a United Soccer Coaches Goalkeeping diploma.