Men's Soccer Head Coach
Kenny Jones

For UT Tyler head soccer coach Kenny Jones, his career has been marked with success since his earliest days.

The second coach hired during UT Tyler’s athletic expansion, he rewarded the University with its first ever National Championship a year later.  After finishing their inaugural season at 13-5-2, the Patriots returned for 2003 with a near-perfect 19-1 mark. Jones led UT Tyler to an undefeated American Southwest Conference East Division Championship, and the top seed in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association’s National Tournament. The Patriots lived up to their top billing, beating second-seeded Maine-Machias 5-0 to claim the University’s first National Championship.

For his championship season, Jones was selected coach of the year in both the ASC and the USCAA.

The Patriots returned for the 2004 season with a 13-3 record, with 2 of their losses coming in overtime. UT Tyler, no longer a part of the USCAA, finished in second place in the ASC to eventual conference champion UT Dallas. The Patriots overpowered the competition, scoring more than four times as many goals as their opponents, but were ineligible for the ASC Tournament due to their provisional status with the NCAA.

In 2005, Jones’s Patriots returned to the top of the ASC, winning the conference with a 10-2-1 mark, 14-4-1 overall, and outscored their opponents 44-17. Jones’s team was again well-coached and balanced, as 17 different Patriots tallied goals on the season, and for the second consecutive year, Jones’s team did not receive a red card.

Entering the 2006 season, the Patriots were chosen as overwhelming favorites to repeat as ASC Champions in a poll of the league’s 14 head coaches and sports information directors. UT Tyler responded with their second straight ASC Championship, finishing up 14-2-1.

Prior to becoming UT Tyler’s first soccer coach, Jones was the head coach at the University of Dallas. He led the Crusaders to their first winning season in 11 years, and held the University’s records for wins and winning percentage in both a season and over a career.

Jones currently holds a US Soccer National “A” license, and also a US Soccer National Youth License. He is the Boys Director of Coaching for the East Texas Spirit Soccer Club, a member of the North Texas Coaching Education Staff, and a staff coach for the North Texas Olympic Development Staff.

Jones holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology from Hendrix College. Jones played soccer for Hendrix, where he led the team in scoring and was a three-time selection to the All-Conference Team. His senior year, he was honored as the college's Most Outstanding Male Athlete, and went on to play semi-professionally in the USISL for the Arkansas A's.

Coincidentally, his first game and victory as head coach of the Patriots came against Hendrix College.

Kenny Jones: Year-by-Year

Coach Kenny Jones can be reached at (903) 565-5985 or by email at kjones@uttyler.edu.