UTEP hired an El Pasoan for its vacant soccer head coaching position.

Gibbs Keeton, who recently served as associate head coach at Texas Tech over the last four years, has been hired as the coach for the soccer program, Director of Athletics Jim Senter announced Wednesday via a press release.

Keeton becomes the fourth head coach in UTEP's history for soccer. He was part of the Red Raider coaching staff since 2009 and focused on recruiting efforts for the program since 2013. He is a graduate of Montwood high school as a native El Pasoan.

“We are excited to bring Gibbs home to lead the UTEP soccer program,” Senter said in a statement. “During the interview process, we were impressed with his coaching acumen, his recruiting ability, his energy, and his passion not only for the sport, but for his hometown. We are thrilled to usher in a new era of Miner Soccer, and are confident that Gibbs is the man to take us to new heights.”

"I'm blessed to return to my hometown of El Paso — a city that has given me so much on and off the field,” Keeton said in a statement. “I see the opportunity to lead UTEP Soccer as a way to give back and invest in the 915. I'm grateful to Jim Senter and Daniel Garcia, who have chosen me to join their University and athletic department at such an exciting time. UTEP Soccer will rise up to meet and exceed the high expectations this great school, fanbase, and community have for this program. I'm ready to get right to work with this team.”

Keeton will take over a Miner program that has been losing in recent years. Kathryn Balogun was fired this past fall after finishing 4-11-3 and 21-36-8 over three years.

Meanwhile, Keeton found success during his time at Texas Tech. They finished in the top five across the Big 12 nine times over the last 12 seasons. In 2015, Texas Tech made a run to the Big 12 Tournament championship as a 5 seed, defeating Kansas, 1-0, in the final. They made the NCAA Tournament in the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons.

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