WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue soccer head coach Richard Moodie has added Adrian Ferreira Cabado to his inaugural staff as an assistant coach.
Ferreira Cabado, who will work with the goalkeepers, comes to the Boilermakers from South Alabama, where he worked for Moodie in 2023. Ferreira Cabado is the second member of Moodie’s first coaching staff to be announced, along with associate head coach Rob Ward.
“Adrian was new to our staff a year ago, but within that short span he had an immediate impact on our goalkeepers and their goals-against and clean sheet average,” Moodie said. “He is a forward-thinking coach who helped shape our goalkeepers’ ranks among the best in Division I. He will work mainly with the goalkeepers and oversee our set piece analysis.”
A native of A Coruna, Spain, Ferreira Cabado spent the 2023 season with Moodie and Ward at South Alabama, where he helped the Jaguars to an unbeaten regular season and a Sun Belt Conference championship. He came to USA after three years as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, William Carey, a tenure that featured two national runner-up finishes, two United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honors and numerous accolades for his goalkeepers.
“I am very excited to join the Purdue soccer staff,” Ferreira Cabado said. “I am looking forward to working with the student-athletes here, especially the goalkeepers, and building a winning culture with the Boilermakers. I can’t wait to get started and to see everything that we get to achieve here with this fantastic program.
“I want to thank Coach Moodie and Rob for all the trust they have given me from the beginning. It has been a pleasure to work with, and learn from, them. I also want to thank coaches Danny Owens and Ryan Weir from William Carey University. I would not be here without their mentoring and the confidence they gave me during my years at WCU.”
At South Alabama in 2023, Ferreira Cabado worked with Moodie and Ward to continue a winning tradition that totaled seven conference championships, three regular-season and four postseason, from 2017-20. Moodie’s seven seasons included 19 individual Sun Belt postseason player awards and 44 all-conference accolades.
In 2023, South Alabama went 16-1-3 with an 8-0-2 mark in Sun Belt play to win the conference. The Jaguars earned the league’s Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards while Moodie was named the Coach of the Year. A 15-0-3 mark in the regular season was the first unbeaten year in program history. Goalkeeper Jaidy Gutierrez posted 11 shutouts with a 0.45 goals-against average and nine goals allowed on her way to all-conference team honors.
Ferreira Cabado was a graduate assistant coach at William Carey from 2020-22. With a different goalkeeper each season, he helped his team to a 57-4-4 record, with NAIA national runner-up finishes in 2020 and 2021, conference championships all three years and United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022. WCU goalkeepers earned All-America accolades and conference goalkeeper of the year awards in 2020 and 2021 and were recognized on the all-conference team and as NAIA Scholar Athletes all three seasons.
William Carey posted a 16-3-2 mark in 2022 with a perfect 8-0 record in conference play to claim the regular-season and tournament crowns. The Crusaders advanced to the NAIA National Championship Final Site as Ferreira Cabado coached goalkeeper Marlen Kelm to SSAC All-Conference and All-Tournament honors. The coaching staff was named the United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year and WCU also earned the SSAC Coach of the Year award.
The 2021 campaign saw William Carey go 22-1-0 and 7-0 in SSAC action. The Crusaders were the national runners-up after winning both the conference regular-season and postseason championships. Under Ferreira Cabado coaching, newcomer Jaina Eckert was recognized on the All-America Third Team along with earning SSAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Newcomer of the Year distinctions and being named to the all-conference team. The staff was honored as the Regional Coaching Staff of the Year and the conference’s Coach of the Year. Eckert had a 0.64 goals-against average with 13 shutouts
In 2020, Ferreira Cabado’s first season on staff, William Carey went 19-1-1 and 6-0 in the league to win the regular-season title before the SSAC tournament was not completed. The Crusaders advanced to the national championship game as goalkeeper Sabrina Lang was named an honorable mention All-America. She also was recognized as the SSAC Goalkeeper of the Year and named to the all-conference team. Lang allowed a school-record-low 12 goals on the season with a 0.74 goals-against average.
Additionally, Ferreira Cabado served as a volunteer goalkeepers coach at Jones College for the men’s and women’s programs from 2021-23. He helped the Bobcats to two MACCC conference championships, in 2021 and 2022, and the staff was named the regional coaching staff of the year in 2021 and 2022 and the MACCC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2022.
As a partner and camp director of La Liga Futbol Camps since 2016, Ferreira Cabado oversees 50 camps in five states. He organizes camp logistics, marketing and recruiting coaching staffs.
On the pitch, Ferreira Cabado was a goalkeeper for William Carey from 2016-19. He played four career games and totaled 119 minutes with five saves and one goal allowed for a .833 save percentage and a 0.76 goals-against average.
Ferreira Cabado graduated from William Carey in 2019 with a bachelor of science in business administration. He also earned a masters of business administration in 2020 and a specialist of education in interscholastic athletic administration in 2021, also from William Carey.
Ferreira Cabado is joined by his wife, Emily, in West Lafayette.