Raul Barillas finished his first season as a volunteer assistant coach in 2018. 

Barillas was the position coach for Valpo goalkeeper Nacho Miras in 2018, helping the redshirt junior finish the year with a 1.13 goals against average (tied for seventh in program history) and four shutouts (also tied for seventh in program history). 

Barillas previously worked at the USSDA level with the Indiana Fire and the Chicago Fire and has also seen time with the Indiana Magic, Chicago Magic and South Bend Junior Irish clubs. He has worked in collegiate soccer with stints at Lewis University and Georgia Perimeter College.

The El Salvador native saw time with his home country’s youth national team before coming to the United States to play at Bethel College – the same school that gave Avery his start as a head coach.

“While we were at Bethel at different times, we do have some connections that help bring us together,” Avery said. “Raul is connected to the regional club scene, which helps us in recruiting. He is a native Spanish speaker, which is useful in communicating with many members of our team, and he is a very good soccer coach and teacher who adds a lot of value to our staff. His direct responsibility this season will be with our goalkeepers, but we anticipate Raul will be a great help in all areas of the game.”