In his first season on EKU's staff, Josh Purdum helped lead EKU to a share of its first-ever OVC regular season crown.
The Colonels completed the largest turnaround in the NCAA in Purdum's first year, going from 4-14 in 2015 to 13-5-1 in 2016. They advanced to the OVC Tournament tile game for the first ever.
Purdum played a key role in developing goalkeeper Anna Hall into an All-OVC performer. Under his guidance, Hall shattered the program records for shutouts (11) and goals against average (0.78) in 2016. She was voted second team All-OVC at the conclusion of the regular season.
Purdum was hired as an assistant coach at EKU in May of 2016.
He arrived at Eastern following a successful stint as the goalkeepers coach at Drake University. In his lone season in Des Moines, Purdum helped lead Drake to a 4-0-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference and to a share of the 2015 regular season conference crown. It was the Bulldogs’ first MVC regular season title since 2006.
Purdum worked specifically with Drake’s goalkeeper, Brooke Dennis, who was named the MVC Goalkeeper of the Year and earned first team all-conference honors following the 2015 season.
“When taking over a program, it’s extremely important to build a staff who share the same vision and also bring different strengths to the team,” Flohre said of his hiring. “I think we’ve done that by adding Josh. He comes highly recommended from everyone he’s worked with in the past and brings unique experiences to EKU.”
Before working at Drake, Purdum was a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado, from 2011-14. He also experienced success at UNC, helping the Bears win a share of their first-ever Big Sky Conference regular season title in 2011.
Two Northern Colorado goalkeepers earned Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year and first team all-conference honors under Purdum’s guidance – Kirsten Salminen (2011) and Natalie D’Adamio (2012 and 2013).
Purdum earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Northern Colorado in 2011, and a master’s degree in clinical counseling from UNC in 2014.
He played on the Northern Colorado men’s club soccer team and was a member of the Northern Colorado Cutthroats of the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) from 2009-2011.
“Josh has coached three goalkeepers to conference Goalkeeper of the Year awards, and he is also a certified counselor,” Flohre added. “His experience working with goalkeepers and defenders, as well as his counseling expertise, will be a great help as we work to build a championship culture within the EKU soccer program. The players and I are extremely excited to be able to have Josh as part of the team!”
Purdum and his wife, Kelly, reside in Lexington.
