Southwest MS Community College

SW Mississippi Comm Col Athletics
1156 College Drive Summit, MS 39666

NJCAA Mississippi Southeast

Public Small Developing team

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Coaches

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Zach Mills

Zach Mills is in his fourth year in charge of the Men's and Women's soccer programs at Southwest. This is his second stint with the Bears having served as men's head coach from 2016-18.

In his first season back at Southwest, 10 Lady Bears and seven Bears received conference academic awards, some of which received national. The Lady Bears combined for a 3.22 team GPA. Mills' 2021 Women's squad finished the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.41 while the Men finished with a 3.25 GPA.

Prior to his current run at Southwest, Mills spent two years as head coach of the Eastern Oregon University men’s soccer team. During his tenure at EOU, Mills led the Mountaineers to a 20-14-7 record and the program’s first-ever appearance in the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament in 2018.

In 2019, the Mountaineers advanced to the CCC tournament championship game for the first time and also made their initial trip to the NAIA national tournament. Members of the 2019 squad included former Bears Joaquin Bermejillo, Patrick Larsen and Felipe Madero.

Also at EOU, Mills had two players named to the All-CCC 1st Team, three to the 2nd Team and had seven Honorable Mention selections.

In his first stint at SMCC (2016-18), Mills directed the Bears to a 23-10-2 record and the program’s first-ever trips to the MACJC/NJCAA Region 23 playoffs. He also coached the program’s first-ever All-American (3rd team), Jaime Delor.

Also under Mills’ guidance, the 2017-18 Bears were the MACJC men’s soccer Academic Team of the Year with a combined GPA of 3.33.

A native of Petal, MS, Mills is a 2010 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. In 2018, he received a Master’s degree in teaching Languages with an emphasis in Spanish and TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages), also from USM.

He is currently working toward a PhD in Performance Psychology.

Mills was an All-State and All-Region player during his time at Jones College. He then finished his collegiate career as an All-Academic student athlete at Delta State University.

In 2015, Mills played professional soccer with FC Olimpia in Moquegua, Peru, and led the team in scoring with 32 points.

Mills is married to the former Vanessa Cervantes Flores.

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Dalton Cooper

Former Southwest soccer player Dalton Cooper is in his fourth year as an assistant coach for the Bears and Lady Bears programs.

A graduate of Gautier High School, Cooper played for Southwest from 2012-14 and was a team manager before receiving his Associate's degree in 2015. He was an Academic All-State honoree as a sophomore.

In his first season as coach, 10 Lady Bears and seven Bears received conference academic awards, with some receiving national. The Lady Bears combined for a 3.22 team GPA. In his second year, the Bears combined for a 3.26 and the Lady Bears an impressive 3.41 GPA.

After Southwest, Cooper attended the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM in 2015-16 where he played one season for the Mustangs. He a honored with the NAIA Champions of Character Award during his time at USW.

He had been Head Coach Zach Mills’ recruiter since 2018 as an outside source while working in the private sector before joining the coaching staff.

He is married to fellow Bear Soccer Coach Nicole Daigle Cooper.