Heading into the 2025 season, Southwest Men's Soccer Head Coach Zach Mills will look to build upon last year's success with a new staff under him. And he just recently added helped fill his assistant coach void by welcoming in coach Cesar Cuellar to the staff.

This will be Cuellar's first collegiate coaching job as he joins a Bears team anxious to make a run to the postseason for the first time in two years.

"I'm just excited for the season to start," he said. "It is a big opportunity for me and I want to make the most of it. I will try my hardest and do the best I can."

Cuellar comes to Summit after recently receiving his Master's Degree from Central Methodist University in Missouri. Before grad school, he played Division I soccer at Florida International University in Miami.

"I graduated and I was looking for opportunities to stay in the area that I love which is soccer and I thank God that this opportunity popped up and I took it," he said.

Cuellar does have experience in the profession as he coached club teams in the past in addition to assisting with CMU's team during his final year in grad school. His want to become a coach for a living came during his playing career.

"I have always like coaching, even as a player, I have been always very tactical," he said. "I was very aware of the whole team in general. I was never a selfish player, I wasn't always trying to be the best, I was trying to make sure that the team won more than anything. So that kind of sparked some coaches telling me that I should get into coaching. And growing up, I've always had in the back of my mind if (playing) soccer doesn't work out, I would want to stay in the sport and this is probably the best way."

Not long after arriving on campus, Cuellar was blown away with what Southwest has to offer.

"I'm actually impressed by the school more than anything," he said. "I think that with this being a junior college, the facilities it has and what the program provides for its players, the soccer field house is probably better than 90% of the D-I schools that I have played at. When I was first told of it by Zach, I almost didn't believe it and it was too good to be true. I had to check it out myself and when I did I was happy."

In addition to playing on the Division-I level, Cuellar's soccer journey started at a young age, playing for exclusive clubs.

"Thankfully when I was younger, I was blessed to be able to play for Inter Miami which is an MLS (Major League Soccer) Academy," he said. "I then played a year and a half professionally in the USL League One which led me to have a lot of connections that a lot of people probably wouldn't have not only with my teammates at the time – who are now playing in Europe, playing in the MLS second division, third division – but with the coaches there who were amazing. I've always kept a good relationship with people because I believe that matters a lot."

Coach Mills recently expressed his great level of joy he has in adding Cuellar to the staff.

"Honestly, I am more than excited," he said. "I can't believe how fortunate we are as a program to build, to have been building and for him to see what we are building and see where we are going and to say I am going to come in as your right-hand-man and handle this project with you. He loves helping kids develop and get better and understand what it takes and he is going to be there with them every step of the way."

In addition to his skills, Mills is also very pleased with the connections that Cuellar brings and how that can help in the future.

"With his contacts and his background, we are definitely going to be pulling in players left and right," he said. "We are going to be getting the players that we really want. To have him on board is a blessing and we are super-excited for what's to come."