BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's soccer head coach
Jason O'Keefe is proud to announce the addition of assistant soccer coach Brad Franks to the staff.
"I am very excited for Brad to join our staff here at App State," coach O'Keefe said. "I would like to thank Shaun Utterson for his time as he helped our program grow tremendously while he was here. I have known Brad and his family for about 12 years. I coached his brother Jamie at Wake Forest and then coached Brad at Elon. Brad will help our program continue to strive for excellence every day and help us achieve all our goals in the future. Brad is a tremendous young coach who has an excellent eye for the game. Brad accomplished many things at Elon (as a player and asst. coach) that we want for our players here at App State. He will be a huge support for them as we continue in the process we are in. He will be instrumental in our players' development as young men and athletes."
The newly-hired assistant coach has been successful at all of his stops before arriving to the High Country, where High Point (2011-13) and Elon (2014-17) were a combined 66-46-24 and 31-17-15 in conference action.
In his most recent stint of four seasons at Elon, The Phoenix amassed a solid 37-23-15 overall mark and a 16-8-8 record in the Colonial Athletic Association. In 2015, Franks contributed to 14 wins en route to a share of the CAA regular-season title while also seeing Elon achieve the program's highest national ranking ever at No. 8 in the country. Franks and the Phoenix returned to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence and recorded the program's first-ever victory in the national tournament after a 3-0 win over Winthrop.
In 2014, Franks helped the Phoenix to nine victories during its first season in the Colonial Athletic Association. Franks was also critical in the development of Miguel Salazar becoming first team All-CAA while helping five other members to All-CAA accolades.
As a volunteer assistant at High Point, Franks' role included taking care of the Panthers' day-to-day operations, the planning and execution of practices and all video analysis. High Point won 21 games and achieved its first NSCAA national ranking during Franks' first tenure with the squad.
A four-year starter under Powell at Elon from 2007-10, Franks appeared in 77 matches for the Phoenix and tallied 22 points on five goals and 12 assists throughout his career. He earned first-team All-Southern Conference as a senior and second team accolades as a junior.
"A sincere thank you to Jason (O'Keefe),
Doug Gillin and Appalachian State for this tremendous opportunity," Franks mentioned. "I am incredibly excited to get the chance to work with Jason and help continue to transform the App State Men's Soccer program. Through my time as a player at Elon, I watched Jason help turn Elon into a top program through the culture and accountability on and off the field. Jason shares my belief in developing these young men in all aspects of their lives. I wish my alma mater nothing but the best and want to say thank you to Dave Blank and Marc Reeves Reeves for the unbelievable working environment during my time at Elon.
Franks earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Elon in sport and event management in 2011. He also holds a National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
