East Peoria, Ill.---Illinois Cental College Director of Athletics
Rob Buss announced the hiring of Gabriel Carreno as ICC's second Head Men's Soccer Coach. Carreno comes to East Peoria with a variety of experiences at the college level and is heavily involved in the central Illinois soccer community. He will begin his position immediately.
"I am very happy to announce the hiring of Gabriel Carreno as ICC's new men's soccer coach," Buss said. "Coach Carreno possesses great knowledge and experience to go along with his passion and enthusiasm to lead young men on the soccer field and in life. I believe Gabe will continue to build on the strong winning tradition here at ICC."
Carreno served as an assistant men's soccer coach at Illinois Wesleyan University for the past two seasons. In 2019, he was an assistant coach at Heartland Community College for both the men's and women's soccer programs, helping the women to a Mid-West Athletic Conference Co-Championship and a region finals' appearance on the men's side. Prior to coaching in the Bloomington-Normal area, Carreno was the head of recruiting operations for the men's soccer program at Otero Junior College (Colorado), helping leading the Rattlers to a Region IX championship and a top-20 team academic ranking.
Besides college soccer, Coach Carreno has a plethora of experience at the grassroots levels. He is currently the Director of Methodology and College Advisory for the FC Central Illinois club in Bloomington, Illinois. He serves as head coach for competitive teams at the high school level and has been working for the club for three years. Prior to FCCI, he was in mentorship in the FC Dallas Academy system.
Carreno also founded an exemplary platform for player development and collegiate exposure called Legacy, which currently serves as a camp and recruitment platform for collegiate identification at the youth level.
As a player, Coach Carreno had a stunt at the pro level in the NASL (now USL) and played in New Mexico for the Albuquerque Sol which competed in the Premier Developmental League (PDL), which is now part of the USL platform and pro pathway.
Carreno graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a bachelors degree in kiniesiology and health nutrition. He played in the National Intramural Recreational Sports League where he was a three-time national tournament participant. At the youth level, Coach Carreno was part of the inaugural youth academy team for the El Paso Patriots (A-League and PDL) at the age of fourteen.
Gabe holds grassroots licenses (USSF 4v4, 7v7, 9v9, 11v11, D license), is FA approved for scouting, and currently is working on his USSF C License and NASM PT Certification.
Carreno is also working on his MBA in sports business. He succeeds Oz Bakirdan, who left ICC to take the women's soccer job at Illinois Wesleyan University.
