The 2025 season will be the fifth for Hunter Gray as head coach of the Illinois College women's soccer program. 

The program has continued to grow and has enjoyed increased success as Gray continues to build the Lady Blues. Last season, the Lady Blues finished the season with a 10-6-3 overall record, including a 2-4-2 slate in the Midwest Conference. The 10 victories marked just the second time in program history that IC has recorded double-digit wins in a season. Individually, Haley Sommer was a first-team All-Midwest Conference pick after concluding her career at IC as the program's all-time leader in shots, finishing second in career goals and points, and tied for fourth in career assists. Olivia Ralston was named second-team all-conference. 

In 2023, IC won seven matches, which exceeded the program’s win total from the previous three seasons combined.

Gray brings an extensive coaching background to the Hilltop, having coached for more than a quarter of a century while accumulating nearly 400 victories. 

A Division I soccer player at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), Gray began his coaching journey at Indian Springs School in Birmingham in 1993. He collected 343 victories, which made him the active leader in coaching wins in Alabama for girls' soccer. His teams were state champions in 2003 and 2005 and runners-up in 2004 and 2008. Additionally, the program made seven additional appearances in the Final Four under Gray’s guidance.

Gray began coaching at the Division III level in 2018 with a stint as a volunteer women's coach at Birmingham-Southern College, and in his first season with the program, the Panthers recorded the most wins in program history. Gray also served as a men's assistant coach and a men's and women's goalkeepers coach at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C. 

Gray holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "B" license and a United Soccer Coaches (USC) Goalkeeping Level I certification.