Harvard Names New Men's Coach

Former Notre Dame Assistant Replaces Kerr

February, 12 2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard has found a replacement for John Kerr. The Crimson today announced the hiring of Notre Dame assistant Jamie Clark as the new head coach of the men’s soccer program.

Clark replaces new Duke coach Kerr, who resigned in December after nine years at the school to take the head job at his alma mater. Clark takes over a Crimson program which was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation last year while reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.

The former MLS player comes to Harvard after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Notre Dame, where he helped the Irish reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament both seasons. During this time, the Irish compiled a 29-11-7 (.691) overall record and a 15-3-4 (.727) Big East mark.

Notre Dame assistant Jamie Clark will replace John Kerr as the head coach fo Harvard. (Photo courtesy: Notre Dame Athletics).

While with the Irish, Clark, who’s the youngest son of Irish head coach Bobby Clark, oversaw some of the best men’s soccer players in the country, including the 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner and Soccer America Player of the Year, Joseph Lapira.

“It will be a privilege to work at Harvard and represent this tradition rich university and program” Clark said in a statement. “The players at Harvard are overachieving, successful young men who are eager to build upon their already impressive achievements. I’m looking forward to working with this group.”

In 2007, the Irish were the 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Oakland, 2-1, and Santa Clara, 2-0, en route to the quarterfinals, where the team fell to the eventual NCAA winner, Wake Forest, 1-0 in overtime.

“We are extremely excited to have someone of Jamie’s ability leading our men’s soccer in what is a very exciting period for our program,” Harvard Athletic Director Bob Scalise said in a statement. “We are particularly impressed with Jamie’s experience and successes at other well-respected academic institutions and his aptitude to mold successful student-athletes both on the field and in the classroom. Harvard has a long tradition of excellence in men’s soccer, and we trust that our program will continue to thrive under coach Clark.”

Clark, a former MLS player for San Jose, coached four players who were selected in the MLS SuperDraft over the past two seasons, including Greg Dalby and Nate Norman in 2007, and Ryan Miller and Lapira in 2008.

Prior to his stint at Notre Dame, Clark spent four seasons as an assistant at New Mexico, where he was part of the staff that led the Lobos to the title game of the 2005 College Cup. While at New Mexico under head coach Jeremy Fishbein, Clark helped the program reach new heights, which included the program’s second trip ever to the NCAA Tournament in 2001. The Lobos made it to the finals of the College Cup just four years later in 2005. New Mexico registered an 18-2-3 mark in 2005 to tie the school record for wins in a single season. During his four years in Albuquerque, the Lobos combined to post a record of 61-16-8.

“I’m grateful to coach Clark at Notre Dame and coach Fishbein at New Mexico for mentoring me along in my career, as well as coach (John) Kerr for leaving Harvard in such a great position to succeed,” Clark said.

Clark is a 1999 graduate of Stanford, where he was a two-time All-American. In 1998, he became the first NSCAA first-team All-American in the history of Cardinal soccer as he helped lead the squad to the first NCAA final appearance in program history. Clark also was a second-team All-America selection in 1997.

Prior to Clark's arrival at New Mexico, he played two seasons with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. He was drafted out of Stanford as the 21st pick overall in the 1999 MLS Draft.

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