The coach himself is new, but his last name is quite familiar.
Ryan Palmbaum has been named men’s soccer coach at Kansas Wesleyan. He replaces his father Bruce at the helm after leading the Coyotes the past two seasons and compiling a 24-11-5 record, 17-4-5 in the Kansas Conference. KWU was 11-6-3 overall and finished second in the KCAC with an 8-2-3 record last fall.
Ryan was an assistant coach during both seasons after completing his playing career at Division I University of Albany.
“It was a decision that was based on wanting to make sure we don’t lose any traction with all the hard work that’s been done the last two years,” KWU Director of Athletics Miguel Paredes said. “The students know Ryan and he knows the process. I feel comfortable with Ryan picking up where we left off.”
Palmbaum said he’s thrilled and eager to get started.
“I am extremely grateful,” he said. “I’ve been with the program for the last two years through the rise and I’ve seen the growth from where we started to where we are now. I’m just excited to continue the path and to push to win a (KCAC) championship and continue the success that we’ve had in the last couple of years.”
Palmbaum said his father is a big reason for success.
“My dad is my biggest role model,” he said. “We would always train one on one all through my life. Growing up and everything that I did in my life as a player I can pretty much attribute to him as a coach. He’s extremely personable and connects with players super well.”
Ryan Palmbaum will incorporate much of what he learned from his father into his own program.
“His coaching is a lot about relationship building and you won’t be able to build a championship team without players who are bought in,” he said. “For me that’s the biggest thing. It’s not about the talent, it’s not about the accolades, it’s about how invested the players are in the mission.”
The Coyotes will not be a carbon copy of the 2023 and ’24 teams, though. Ryan played center midfield during his college years and had experience as a striker.
“I was an attacker as a player and I plan on an attacking style as a coach as well,” he said. “I’m hoping to come out and score a lot of goals and hopefully not let many goals get past us. We’re going to be very disciplined and we’re going to be very diligent in the tactics that we decide on depending on the players that we have and the strength of the players.
“I love to score goals, love to create. I was a very creative player, and I grew up playing in Argentina. It was all about creativity passing, assist scoring. I was the orchestrator of the offense.”
Paredes is confident Ryan Palmbaum will continue the growth the program has had in the last two seasons.
“I’m just felt more comfortable with him being able to take us to the next level rather than waiting to try to figure out who we’re going to be,” he said. “We know who we are, we know what we want to become. That was huge and very instrumental in the decision that we made.”
Palmbaum played at Division II Northern Michigan from 2019-21 before transferring to Albany for his final two years in 2022-23 where he earned bachelor’s degree in management and finance. He has played professionally in Spain and Greece and competed in professional academies in Argentina, England, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland.
With Ryan Palmbaum on the staff KWU recruited 99 players from 22 nations and had a 75 percent retention rate in the last two years.
Twenty-two Coyotes earned Daktronics Scholar Athletes which ranked among the top five in the NAIA and had a 3.3 team grade point average.
“It’s a decision we feel was best for the men’s soccer program,” Paredes said.
