John Mello enters his fifth season as the head men’s soccer coach at Rhode Island College. RIC was 8-9-2 overall and 4-2-1 (third place tie) in the Little East Conference in 2007.

The Anchormen posted a 10-6-1 overall record and were 4-2-1 (third place) in the Little East Conference in 2006. Mello helped the RIC men's soccer program reach the 10-win plateau for the fifth consecutive season.

He led the Anchormen to a 12-5-5 overall record and a 4-1-2 (second place) mark in the Little East Conference in 2005. After a heartbreaking loss to fourth-seeded Western Connecticut on penalty kicks in the Little East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Championship Game, the Anchormen went on to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Men's Soccer Championship, the first in the program's history. RIC's 12 wins were the most in a season since the 1973 squad won 13 and the Anchormen recorded a program-record 11 shutouts.

In his first season in 2004, Mello led RIC to an 11-9-2 overall record and a 4-2-1 (second place) mark in the Little East Conference. RIC’s second place regular season record in the LEC was the highest finish in the program’s history. The Anchormen made it to the Championship Game of the 2004 Little East Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament, falling, 3-1, to Keene State. The Anchormen also were selected to participate in the 2004 Eastern College Athlete Conference (ECAC) Men’s Soccer Tournament for the second consecutive season.

Mello was an assistant coach at RIC under Len Mercurio from 2001-02. Mello had coached the Northern Lightning Premier Soccer Club and won the State Championship twice. He was previously the head varsity boys’ soccer coach at Shea High School from 1997-00. During Mello’s tenure, the Raiders made it to the semi-finals of the Division II Rhode Island State Championships three times. Shea made it to the Rhode Island State finals in 1998, falling to Pilgrim High School. Mello was also the head varsity boys’ soccer coach at Seekonk High School from 1994-96. He inherited a team that was 0-18 in 1993 and built it into a respectable program.

As a player, Mello starred at the University of Maine as a forward from 1987-90. He was All-New England as a senior in 1990 and also a NEISL All-Star. He held the Black Bears single-season record for goals with 12 at the time of his graduation. He went on to play with the Rhode Island Stingrays of the United States Inter-Regional Soccer League (USISL) and with the Academica Soccer Club of the Luso American Soccer Association (LASA) League. Mello won two LASA League Championships with the Academica Soccer Club.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Maine in 1991. He is originally from Bristol, Rhode Island and graduated from La Salle Academy in 1987. He was a four-time First Team All-Division selection, a two-time All-State selection and was All-New England as a senior in 1986.

Mello is single and resides in Lincoln, Rhode Island.