CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Corpus Christi FC has chosen \u00c9amon Zayed to lead the club as Head Coach and Sporting Director for its inaugural professional season in 2026.<\/p>\n
Zayed, a Dublin, Ireland native, is the former head coach and technical director of former USL League One club, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. He was the Hailstorm\u2019s first head coach and led the club for three seasons, accumulating an overall record of 41-21-22. His squad finished in third in the standings during the 2023 season and second in 2024, reaching the USL League One Playoffs Semifinals and Quarterfinals in those seasons, respectively. In his final year in USL League One, Zayed led his team to a USL J\u00e4germeister Cup Final victory and was named a finalist for Coach of the Year in both 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am incredibly honored and excited to be named the first-ever Head Coach and Sporting Director of Corpus Christi as we prepare for our inaugural season in USL League One,\u201d Zayed said. “I want to sincerely thank Dr. Kingsley for his unwavering belief in me and for entrusting me with this tremendous opportunity. Corpus Christi will be a club that proudly reflects the identity, values, and rich traditions of this great city. I am fully committed to building something special\u2014both on and off the pitch\u2014that our community can truly be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corpus Christi FC President and Founder Dr. Kingsley Okonkwo is thrilled to bring Zayed and his experience aboard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBringing in \u00c9amon Zayed as the head coach for our professional team is a major step forward for Corpus Christi FC,\u201d Dr. Okonkwo said. \u201cHis track record of success, professionalism, and deep understanding of the game align perfectly with our vision for the future. \u00c9amon not only knows how to win, he knows how to build a culture of excellence. We\u2019re confident that under his leadership, our pro team will set a new standard for soccer in South Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zayed\u2019s playing career spanned 18 seasons, playing across Asia and Europe before finishing his career in the United States within the USL. He played in Ireland\u2019s top-flight league for several clubs. In 2011, Zayed led Derry City to European qualification and was named the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland Player\u2019s Player of the Year after leading the League of Ireland Premier Division with 23 goals.<\/p>\n
Zayed earned his way to the national stage playing with the Irish U20 squad and took part in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championships. With his heritage, Zayed would later declare for the Libyan National Team and made eight appearances. His credentials include a UEFA \u201cA\u201d coaching license and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies from Technological University Dublin. He holds a Masters of Science Degree from Dublin City University in Accounting and Finance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Corpus Christi FC has chosen \u00c9amon Zayed to lead the club as Head Coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-85442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}