Richard Benge enters his first season on the Connors State coaching staff after being named as the assistant coach in July 2023. In his role, Benge will be responsible for the training and preparation of the goalkeepers as well as recruiting and assisting with day-to-day operations.

Benge joins the Cowboys and Cowgirls after spending the 2022-2023 season as the assistant women’s soccer coach at Millsaps College, a NCAA Division III institution in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2022, he helped lead the Majors to one of the best statistical seasons in over a decade. The team recorded the most shutouts (5) and allowed the fewest goals (24) since 2009. The starting goalkeeper earned Conference Player of the Week honors the opening week of the season and went on to earn All-SAA Honorable Mention recognition.

Prior to joining the staff at Millsaps, he spent two seasons as the goalkeeping coach for the girls’ soccer program at Ravenna High School in Northeast Ohio. While at Ravenna, the team increased their win total from the previous year in each season. The 2021 campaign saw the most wins since 2017, the most shutouts (7) since 2009, and the team’s first OHSAA Tournament win since 2011. The Ravenna starting goalkeeper earned All-Conference and All-Greater Akron district recognition in each season and finished as the school’s single-game, single-season, and all-time saves leader and in the top 10 for career shutouts.

Benge’s coaching career began as the boys’ head coach at Columbiana High School in 2015, and includes a season as the head coach for Youngstown State University’s men’s club team, a season as a volunteer assistant coach at Hiram College, and work as an ODP staff coach for the Ohio Soccer Association.

Benge earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Youngstown State in 2018 and a master’s degree in sports administration from Kent State in 2021.