Anthony Soto was hired as the Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach at Lenoir-Rhyne in December 2019 and was promoted to Associate Head Coach in February 2022. Soto came to Hickory after serving as the Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach at Notre Dame College.
Soto helped the Bears to a standout 2023 season where the Bears won the division, conference and region and advanced all the way to the National Semifinal. Under Soto, Sean White threw for the most yards in a game in the 104-year history of Lenoir-Rhyne football when he tossed for 398 yards in an NCAA Playoff win over Shepherd. Additionally. the week prior, LR broke the program record with six passing touchdowns as a team, the only time in program history a team has tossed for six TDs. White hit an incredible stride as the QB had a four-game stretch where he threw 15 TDs to just one INT with three 300-yard games. Not to be outdone, backup Jalen Ferguson also stood out under Soto, completing a program record 72.6 percent of his passes for 17 TD and just two picks on the year.
Also in 2023, Dwayne McGee had the third-best single-season rushing year in program history with 1,533 yards rushing. Three different receivers had over 550 yards and Songa Yates tied a program record with three touchdowns in the SAC Championship win over Tusculum. Soto's offense averaged 37.7 points per game and 438.5 yards of total offense per game.
In 2022, Soto broke in the Bears first new QB since Grayson Willingham started in 2018 and led Sean White to an impressive sophomore season. White produced 2,321 yards, 18 touchdowns and completed 60.3 percent of his passes. The 2,321 passing yards ranked as the fourth-most in a single season in program history and his 18 touchdowns ranked fourth in program history.
LR ran for 29 touchdowns on the ground in 2022, led by 11 from Dwayne McGee.
The Bears continued to light up the scoreboard under Soto in 2022, producing 387 points, 35.1 points per game. Under Soto, four offensive players would be named All-SAC performers and TE Malik Simmons was named the Piedmont Division’s Freshman of the Year, giving LR back-to-back Freshmen of the Year winners.
Soto led a high-powered offense in 2021 which saw Dareke Young tie a program record with three touchdown catches in a game and Young would go on to be drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2022 NFL Draft. Freshman RB Dwayne McGee set the single-season record for most rushing yards with 1,669 surpassing Leonard Davis’ mark of 1,559 which had stood since 1994. McGee’s 19 rushing touchdowns were the second-most in a single season and the redshirt freshman would go on to be named All-American.
QB Grayson Willingham set the single-season mark for total offense with 2,736 yards breaking Tommy Laurendine’s mark of 2,409 which stood since 1989. Willingham would also break the single-season yardage mark with 2,736 yards passing which pushed him ahead of Brett Meunier’s 2002 season of 2,453 yards passing. Deondre Lester’s 56 receptions in 2021 are the most since Terrence Steward’s 78 grabs in 1986 and Lester’s 14 catches against UVA Wise stands as an NCAA Era record for LR.
All told, the offensive unit under Soto in 2021 finished fifth in the nation in 3rd Down Conversion percentage, ninth in rushing offense and 13th in scoring offense at 38.5 points per game. Eight offensive players garnered All-SAC honors, including three offensive linemen and C Bryce Jefferson would be named an All-Region performer. On top of his All-American honor, McGee would be named SAC Offensive Player of the Year and SAC Freshman of the Year.
In his first year with the Bears during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign, Soto guided the Bears offense to 34.5 points per game and 419 yards of total offense. Grayson Willingham set a career-high with 353 yards passing against Tusculum in the SAC Championship and RB Dwayne McGee had over 500 yards rushing in his first four career games. The Bears went 3-1 in Soto’s first season and Soto was able to break in three new starters on the offensive line who paved the way for McGee in the running game.
There was no offensive player in the nation better than NDC’s Jaleel McLaughlin over Soto’s final two seasons and Soto had a big hand in that. As a freshman, McLaughlin rushed for an NCAA Division II record 2,421 yards, the most ever by a first-year player. During his sophomore campaign, McLaughlin led the nation with 2,316 yards and 30 touchdowns. McLaughlin was a Harlon Hill finalist each of those two seasons and finished as the runner-up for the award in 2019.
Soto’s run game produced a staggering 3,352 yards in 14 games (239.4 per game) and found the end zone 42 times. He coached a pair of offensive linemen to First Team All-Conference honors and two more were Honorable Mention selections. Jimmy Burchett and Brandon Nicholson were First Team All-Region linemen and Burchett earned D2CCA Second Team All-American honors.
In 2018, Soto led the Falcons to an average of 264.6 yards on the ground per game. His offensive line played a key role in the success in the passing game as well as they allowed only 12 sacks in 14 games, which ranked 13th in NCAA DII. Offensive lineman Austin Treneff was named a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, which is given to the best lineman in NCAA DII. Treneff finished fourth in the voting. In 2017 and 2018, Treneff was named Academic All-American.
In 2016, running back DJ Greene ran for 1,003 yards while quarterback Malik Grove passed the 500-yard milestone. In 2017, three individuals ran for over 500 yards. The team has recorded a combined 108 rushing touchdowns during his time at NDC.
