Rhodes College Athletics

McKinnon Pennell joined the Rhodes staff as the Head Women’s Soccer Coach in 2024.

Before coming to Rhodes, Pennell was an assistant coach at The Citadel.

Prior to his time in Charleston, he served as an assistant women's soccer coach and recruiting coordinator at Sewanee: The University of the South for three seasons. During his tenure, he also held the interim head coach title from December 2019 to February 2020.

At Sewanee, Pennell was instrumental in leading the Tigers to the 2022 Southern Athletic Association (SAA) regular-season championship and their conference tournament championship game. For their achievements, the coaching staff was honored as the 2022 SAA Staff of the Year.
Pennell’s responsibilities at Sewanee included running practice sessions, breaking down film, developing scouting reports, evaluating and recruiting potential student-athletes, and assisting with travel and budgetary duties.

Before his role at Sewanee, Pennell served as the Director of Soccer Operations at Old Dominion University (ODU) from August 2021 to February 2022. At ODU, he was part of a successful staff that led the team to win the Conference USA regular season and conference tournament championships, earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament, and achieve regional and national rankings. The ODU staff was also recognized as the Conference USA Staff of the Year.

At Old Dominion, Pennell's duties included recruiting, player development through analytics, and serving as the social media director.

As a player, Pennell spent four years on Sewanee's men’s soccer team and earned All-SAA Academic Team honors. He also has academy coaching experience with Virginia Beach City FC and South Carolina Surf. He holds a USSF C License and strength and conditioning certifications.

Pennell graduated from Sewanee in 2018 with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and later earned his Master's degree in Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022.