ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University women's soccer Head Coach, JuanPa Favero has announced the promotions of Brian Diaz and Steven Lindquist and the addition of Kia Rankin and J.R. Werk to his staff.
 
"I am thankful for the great staff that surrounds our program, and I feel blessed to work with so many quality people," Favero said. "Our coaching staff truly has the best interest of our athletes at heart, and besides being great professionals who are good at what they do, they genuinely care for the development of the whole person."
 
Diaz spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden Grizzlies prior to being named associate head coach. With 14 years of college coaching experience, both at the DI and DII level, Diaz has been the head coach at two DII programs with stops at Converse College and most recently, Upper Iowa University. Diaz also has been on the Olympic Development Program (ODP) coaching staff since 2006.
 
"Brian's new title as our Associate Head Coach is both very deserved and a much more accurate reflection of his role, stature as a coach, and responsibilities within our program," Favero said. "We are grateful for all his hard work these past three years and look forward to seeing the fruit of his continued investment in our players to help them reach their individual and team goals."
 
Prior to getting promoted to assistant coach, Lindquist served as the Director of Soccer Operations after coming to Oakland in 2017. In 2018, Lindquist transitioned into a graduate assistant role.
 
"Steven is the epitome of hard work and going above and beyond. He started as our Director of Operations three years ago and then moved into our graduate assistant position," Favero said.  "We are delighted to have him move into our assistant coach position, as he has become a vital member of our coaching staff and our team."
 
Both Diaz and Lindquist have worked under Favero's leadership since he was named head coach of the program three seasons ago. In each of those three seasons, Oakland has improved its record and made it to the Horizon League semifinals the past two seasons.


Rankin, a native of Bowie, M.d. enters her first season with the Golden Grizzlies and will serve as the graduate assistant. Rankin joins the Golden Grizzlies after spending four years as a student-athlete at NC State.  She is a three-time All-ACC Academic Team honoree and was a member of the ACC Honor Roll for three seasons.  During her freshman campaign, Rankin was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.  Rankin recorded her final collegiate goal in the second round of the NCAA tournament in NC State's 2-1 win over No. 8 Arkansas.
 
"We are beyond excited to welcome Kia to our coaching staff. Her playing experience in the ACC, one of the top two women's soccer conferences in the nation, and especially as she helped turn around the NC State program, will be invaluable to our players as we are in the middle of that type of process ourselves," Favero said. "Her positive energy, professional demeanor, and leadership skills were evident in the interview process. We know she is going to add much value to our players and program." 
 
Werk rounds out Favero's staff, coming to Oakland after earning a degree in sport management from Western Michigan.  The Waterford, Mich. native began as a student assistant for Broncos, before getting promoted to director of operations. Werk also garnered experience during his time as a student in gameday operations for a number of WMU's teams.
 
"We are also grateful to welcome J.R. to our program as our new Director of Operations," Favero said. "His desire to help the team in every possible way and his experience in a similar role at Western Michigan University with their women's soccer team is a great combination to bring to our program in this role."