Karen Martinez joined the Cumberland staff as head coach for Men’s and Women’s tennis on June 30, 2017. 

Her First season she led the Men’s program to a 21-4 overall record making it to the quarterfinals of the NAIA national tournament. Lead the women’s program to a 13-11 overall record.  Cumberland reached the NAIA national tournament in both seasons.  

Before joining the Cumberland family coach Martinez has served one year as head coach for men’s and women’s tennis at Central Christian College in McPherson, Kan. The Tigers participate as an independent athletic program in the NAIA and also in the National Christian College Athletic Association.

She spent one year as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Emporia State in Kansas, planning road trips and scheduling matches while also handling most of the international recruiting process for student-athletes to the program.

Martinez also spent one season as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., overseeing the program’s strength and conditioning program, running practices and scheduling matches.

She is a native of Bogota, Colombia, where she was ranked in the Top 5 nationally throughout her junior career. Martinez started her collegiate career at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tenn., advancing to the NAIA Championships in 2009, and played her junior and senior seasons at NCAA Division I USC Upstate.

While finishing her degree and for a year after graduation, she worked as the Junior Tennis Director at The Westside Club in Spartanburg, S.C., before spending almost a year as the Head Tennis Pro at Medlock Bridge Tennis Center in Johns Creek, Ga. She served as an assistant coach at Agnes Scott while also working at Medlock. Martinez also spent 18 months as the Junior Program Director at Tennis Stage Colombia in Bogota before returning to the states and taking the position at Emporia State.

She earned her bachelor’s in Physical Education with a concentration in Exercise and Sports Science from USC Upstate in 2012 and completed her master’s in Business Administration from Kansas Wesleyan in May 2017.

Coach Martinez is married to Thiago Oliveira the head Men’s tennis coach at Cumberland University. They have two children: Lucca and Lorenzo.

Cumberland University Director of Athletics Ron Pavan announced the hiring of Tim Mathis as head coach for the Phoenix on January 22, 2018. He becomes the sixth head coach since Cumberland restarted the football program in 1990. Mathis is entering his second season as the Phoenix Head Coach.

In Mathis’ first season at Cumberland, he led the Phoenix to a 5-6 (MSC 3-3) record.The Phoenix upset the number 4 ranked ranked Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders 24-21at home on Senior Day. The offense averaged 20.0 points per game while averaging 324.9 total yards per game.

Mathis served as an assistant coach for 10 seasons at Shorter University when the Hawks started their program in the NAIA in 2005. He was the team’s offensive coordinator his last five years at Shorter, including during the transition to NCAA Division II.

Mathis was a member of the Shorter staff for the inaugural season in 2005 and served five years as the team’s offensive line coach. The Hawks led the NAIA in rushing, won the Mid-South Conference championship and earned the program’s first-ever postseason playoff berth in 2008. Two players earned All-America honors and a dozen offensive linemen were named All-Mid-South during those five seasons.

He moved into the role of offensive coordinator from 2010-14, working with running backs for two seasons and quarterbacks and fullbacks the final three. Shorter ranked second nationally in rushing at 310.9 yards per game and posted 30.5 points per contest in 2010 and ranked third in the country in rushing (271.9), averaging 30.0 points per outing in 2011, the program’s last in the NAIA.

In 2012, the first transition year to Division II, the Hawks ranked ninth nationally in rushing at 268.5 yards per game and ranked third the Gulf South Conference in rushing (227.9) and second in time of possession. Shorter ranked third in total offense in 2013, with fullback Bradley Moon leading the GSC and ranking sixth in rushing yards and quarterback Eric Dodson ranking fifth in the conference in total offense.

Shorter ranked third in the Gulf South and 22nd nationally in rushing in 2014 with 225.3 yards per contest.

Mathis was the head coach the last two seasons at St. Francis High School in Alpharetta, Ga., posting a 2-8 record in 2016 with freshmen and sophomores making up 74 percent of the roster. He registered a 4-6 mark in 2017 with the Knights.

He also served one season as head coach at Franklin County High School in Eastpoint, Fla., helping the Seahawks break a 23-game losing streak and finishing the season 3-7 overall.

Prior to his time at Shorter, Mathis worked four years at Trion City Schools in Trion, Ga., coaching the offensive line all four seasons as well as serving as defensive coordinator for two years. He was also the wrestling coach for two years and the golf coach for two seasons.

Mathis earned his bachelor’s in History with a minor in Political Science from Georgia Southern in 1996 and received his master’s in Leadership from Shorter in 2010. He is married to the former Mesha Layman and the couple has two children – Abby and Hunter.

Former Christian Brothers University player and coach Shane Keely joins the Cumberland staff as a full-time assistant coach for the 2017 season.

Over the past two season at Cumberland, the Men’s Soccer program has achieved Mid-South Conference Regular Season Champions and Tournament champions. Keely primarily coachs the goalkeepers and assisted Bennett Strutz on achieving First Team All Mid-South Conference in both 2017 and 2018 as well as MSC Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.

In the summer, Keely is an assistant coach for the USL League 2 Reading United in Reading, Pa. In 2018, the Reading United club went undefeated in the regular season on their way to USL League 2 Mid-Atlantic Conference Champions, Eastern Conference Champions, and National Champions Runner-Up. This past summer the team won the USL League 2 Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship for the second year in a row.

Keely served the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Christian Brothers, organizing travel, recruiting international as well as local players for the program while managing and delegating scholarships. He designed and implemented practice plans and organized and maintained team videos and analysis technology.

As a player the Dublin, Ireland, native posted three goals and one assist as a senior at CBU in 18 matches in 2014, including a pair of game-winning goals. The Bucs finished that season 14-3-1 overall, reaching the NCAA South Regional.

He spent two seasons at the University of Memphis, seeing action in 12 matches with 10 starts and registering one assist in 2012. He recorded four goals and four assists in 18 outings with nine starts in 2013, including three game-winning goals.

Keely holds a USSF D License, U18 Division 1 coach with NUSA and a U16 Division 2 girls with NUSA licences.

Keely earned his bachelor’s in Professional Studies with disciplines in Sports Management and Health Promotion from Memphis in 2014. He received a certificate in Project Management from Christian Brothers in 2014 and a master’s in Business Administration from CBU in May 2017.