Brian Akers
	Position: Volunteer Coach Alma Mater: UNC Wilmington, 2010

Brian Akers enters his first year as the volunteer soccer coach at East Carolina.

Akers joins the Pirates after spending the last year working as an Associate Staff instructor with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and will assist Donnenwirth and his staff in a variety of facets. While at the NSCAA, Akers was selected to lead and instruct coaching education courses for the Coaching Academy, which is one of the leading organizations for coaching certification.

A 2010 graduate from UNC Wilmington with a degree in criminology and criminal justice, Akers spent eight years (2001-08) in the United States Army rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant where he was deployed to combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom before returning to the pitch in 2008 as an assistant women's coach at Jacksonville High School. With the Cardinals, he organized practices and provided match analysis and feedback to both players and coaches.