Jason O’Keefe enters his fifth year at the helm of the Appalachian State University men’s soccer program.
O’Keefe took the program to new heights in 2019, posting 11 wins, the most for the Mountaineers since 2002, along with eight shutouts, the most clean sheets since 2011. Over the course of the season, App State took down four top 60 teams including Central Arkansas, High Point, Loyola Maryland and RV North Carolina. App State’s win over the Tar Heels was its first since 1980, and marked the second straight season the Mountaineers beat a ranked team (def. No. 22 Coastal Carolina in 2018).
The Mountaineers consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Southeast region in the United Soccer Coaches poll, ranking as high as No. 4. App State’s RPI took a huge leap as well, jumping from 121 in 2018 to 68 in 2019. The Mountaineers ranked as high as 43 in the RPI during the 2019 season. App State scored 26 goals over the course of the season, the most since 2009.
For the second straight season, App State received a Sun Belt Player of the Year in Zeiko Harris. Harris earned Defensive Player of the Year after anchoring the App State defense that ended the regular season leading the Sun Belt in shutouts (7), T-2nd in goals allowed (20) and 3rd in goals against average (1.153). App State's shutout percentage of .412 sat at 37th nationally at the end of the regular season. Along with Harris' defensive effort, he scored two goals in 2019, including the game-winner in the 2-0 win over George Mason. Alex McGrath, a senior midfielder also earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt second team and the Sun Belt All-Tournament team under O’Keefe.
Many first-year Mountaineers saw success this season under O’Keefe and his staff including Jacob Madden, Kelan Swales and Nick Rogers. Madden, a redshirt freshman, made a splash at goalkeeper for the Mountaineers, starting every game between the posts and notching all eight shutouts. Madden ended the season with a 1.17 goals against average, allowing only 22 goals in 1,694 minutes. The keeper made 56 saves and his shutout percentage of .412 at the end of the regular season ranked him 37th in the NCAA.
Kelan Swales and Nick Rogers both made their presence known offensively, as Kelan Swales, a sophomore transfer, scored four goals and tallied two assists in his first season as a Mountaineer. Nick Rogers, a freshman forward, scored three goals in his rookie season and also managed one assist. Camden Holbrook, coming off a standout freshman season, had four goals as well, including three game-winners which ranked him fourth in the Sun Belt.
Off the field, the Mountaineers excelled both in the classroom and in the community. In hours recorded by the Helper Helper platform, which tracks service hours for schools representing 46 states and is the official partner for NCAA Team Works, App State men’s soccer ranked No. 4 among Division I programs.
The Mountaineers received the United Soccer Coaches team academic award for the third time under O’Keefe and 13th time since 2002. College Team Academic Award recipients are active members of the United Soccer Coaches College Services Program with a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster for the 2018-19 academic year. The Mountaineers also placed seven student-athletes on the Sun Belt Commissioner's List and 10 on the Sun Belt Honor Roll.
During his third season in 2018, O'Keefe helped the Mountaineers post a breakout season in which they finished 8-6-3 for their first winning campaign since 2012, while placing third in the Sun Belt for their highest standing since joining the conference. App State went 2-1-1 in league play highlighted by a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over then-No. 22 Coastal Carolina for the Black and Gold's first win over a ranked opponent since 2009. Appalachian was one of 19 undefeated teams in the country at one point with a 4-0 start to the campaign and its best start since 2008. In App State's first three seasons with O'Keefe, the Mountaineers have increased their win percentage each season.
Appalachian boasted the best defense in the Sun Belt in 2018, as its 15 goals allowed were the best in the league and its goals-against average of .844 topped the conference and ranked 29th in the country. The offense also had quite the turnaround, increasing its scoring total by eight goals from 2017.
Also, the Mountaineers raked in the awards with seven Mountaineers earning all-conference honors, which led the Sun Belt and was the highest number of players for App to receive all-league recognition since 1980 when it landed seven players on the All-Southern Conference team. Jake Chasteen was the first player for the Black and Gold since 1989 (Carlos Lee) to be named Conference Player of the Year after he was named Co-Sun Belt Player of the Year. Chasteen was also named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team and later named to the Academic All-American Second Team for his efforts off the field.
Under O'Keefe's tutelage, freshman Camden Holbrook made a splash, where he was the only first-year player in the Sun Belt to lead his team in goals (six) and points (13). Holbrook led the team with 17 shots on goal and a solid shot-on-goal percentage of .739. He was named one of the top 100 freshmen according to TopDrawerSoccer.com, joining players from such schools as Stanford, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Pitt, Virginia and Washington. During the season, Holbrook was mentioned on the weekly freshman top 10 list with players from Northwestern, Syracuse and NC State.
During the 2017 campaign, the Mountaineers played well with a daunting schedule that featured seven eventual NCAA opponents with three wins coming against those foes. Appalachian's RPI also increased by 39 points from 160 to 121 in his second year. Thanks to the formidable slate last season, the Apps' strength of schedule jumped up all the way to 67th in the country after a ranking of 166 in his first year.
The defense was one of the best in the Sun Belt in 2017, as the six shutouts doubled the amount of shutouts in 2016 and was tied for second in the conference. Appalachian's save percentage of .765 was the second highest in the league with the 1.21 goals allowed per game also being the second best in the conference. The Mountaineers' 1.12 goals against averaged proved to be the second lowest as well. Under O'Keefe and the staff, Jake Chasteen finished second in goals against averaged at 1.083 and second with four blank sheets.
His first recruiting class made some noise with Juan Hernandez posting a team-high two goals, while seven of the Mountaineers that scored a goal were freshmen. In addition, first-year Mountaineer Reed Hunnicutt led the team and was fifth in the league with three assists. Hernandez' two goals against Central Arkansas was tied for the second most in a match in the league, which led to a Sun Belt Player of the Week honor. Off the field, the team was recognized the NSCAA Academic Award for a second-straight season under O'Keefe and 10th overall.
During his first year leading the Mountaineers, O’Keefe led the Mountaineers at one point to six-straight unbeaten in a tough stretch of matches that included draws with No. 8 Charlotte and No. 23 Hartwick on the road. During the 2016 season, O’Keefe coached two-time, first team all-Sun Belt Stephen Chapman who, along with eight goals on the season, was named CoSIDA Academic All-America and NSCAA All-Region. The team was also honored with the NSCAA Academic Award for their efforts in the classroom.
A 17-year veteran, O’Keefe’s coaching experience includes stints with some of the nation’s most successful men’s soccer programs, including North Carolina, Saint Louis and Wake Forest.
O’Keefe spent the past two seasons (2014-15) at North Carolina, where he helped the Tar Heels to a pair of top-10 finishes (No. 5 and No. 9 in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America polls in 2014 and 2015, respectively). UNC earned NCAA Tournament berths both seasons that O’Keefe was on the Heels’ coaching staff and fell just one win short of advancing to the 2014 College Cup, falling to No. 2 seed UCLA on penalty kicks in the national quarterfinals.
As North Carolina’s recruiting coordinator, O’Keefe helped the Tar Heels land back-to-back top-10 signing classes, including what is currently ranked as the nation’s No. 1 class for 2016, according to TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Prior to his two seasons at UNC, O’Keefe was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Saint Louis for four seasons (2010-13). With O’Keefe on staff, SLU won two Atlantic 10 Conference championships (2012 tournament, 2013 regular season), earned a No. 8 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament and were ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region in both 2012 and 2013.
For his efforts at Saint Louis, O’Keefe was named the NSCAA’s Mid-Atlantic Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012 and, in 2013, he was tabbed as one of the nation’s top 15 assistant coaches by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
O’Keefe’s successful time at SLU was preceded by three seasons (2007-09) at Elon, where he coached in the same conference (Southern) as Appalachian State. He was an assistant coach for his first two seasons at Elon before being promoted to associate head coach for his final campaign with the Phoenix. His promotion to associate head coach came after he helped lead Elon to the first regular-season SoCon championship in school history in 2008.
During his three years at Elon, O’Keefe recruited and/or coached four SoCon Players of the Year, including 2009 SoCon Freshman of the Year and 2010 and 2012 SoCon Player of the Year Chris Thomas.
Prior to his three seasons at Elon, O’Keefe helped lead Cincinnati to the first Big East Conference championship in school history and an NCAA Tournament berth in his lone season with the Bearcats in 2006. During his time, he also coached the the 2006 Big East Offensive Player of the Year.
O’Keefe’s first opportunity as a Division I coach came at Wake Forest, where he helped lead the Demon Deacons to three NCAA Tournament appearances in three seasons (2003-05). WFU won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2004. All three of O’Keefe’s Demon Deacon squads won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the third round in both 2004 and 2005.
At Wake Forest, O’Keefe coached the ACC’s 2003 and 2004 Offensive Players of the Year and the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year.
O’Keefe’s began his coaching career with three seasons (2000-02) at his alma mater, Greensboro College. During his three-season coaching stint at Greensboro, the Pride won three-consecutive Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships.
As a student-athlete at Greensboro, he helped the Pride to three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, the 1996 South Region championship and the 1994 Dixie Conference title.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, O’Keefe has also served as a scout for the US Soccer Development Academy (2012-16), a head coach in the North Carolina Olympic Development program (2007-10), director of coaching for the Burlington Soccer Club in Burlington, N.C. (2007-10) and assistant director of coaching for the Twin City Soccer Association in Winston-Salem (2003-06).
A Dean’s List student, O’Keefe graduated from Greensboro College in 1997 with a B.A. in history. He holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) “A” license and a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) advanced national diploma.
O'Keefe and his wife, Julie Isley O'Keefe, have one son Jonah Craig O'Keefe.
“I am humbled and honored to become the next head coach of the App State men’s soccer program,” O’Keefe said. “I am grateful to Dr. Sheri N. Everts and Doug Gillin for giving me this tremendous opportunity. I can’t wait to get started with the staff and team. We will work extremely hard every day to make everyone involved with App State — alumni, students, faculty, staff, community members and fans — proud of our program and our student-athletes on and off the field.”
O’KEEFE’S COACHING CAREER AT A GLANCE
2000-02 — Greensboro College (assistant coach – three USA South Championships, three NCAA tournaments)
2003-05 — Wake Forest (assistant coach — ACC championship, three NCAA Tournaments)
2006 — Cincinnati (assistant coach — Big East championship, NCAA Tournament)
2007-09 — Elon (assistant coach/associate head coach — Southern Conference championship)
2010-13 — Saint Louis (assistant coach — two Atlantic 10 championships, 2012 NCAA Tournament)
2014-15 — North Carolina (assistant coach — two NCAA Tournaments, 2014 Elite 8, 2015 ACC Coastal Division Champions)
2016- — Appalachian State (head coach)
HONORS AND AWARDS
2012 — Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year - National Soccer Coaches Association of America
2013 — One of the nation’s top 15 assistant coaches - CollegeSoccerNews.com
2015 — Nation’s No. 7 recruiting class - TopDrawerSoccer.com
2016 — Nation’s No. 1 recruiting class - TopDrawerSoccer.com
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT O’KEEFE
“First of all, I would like to thank Coach Jason O’Keefe for his contributions to UNC athletics and our soccer program. Also, congratulations to Appalachian for a great hire. Coach O’Keefe is ready and motivated for this opportunity and we wish him well in his next coaching challenge.”
— Carlos Somoano (head coach, University of North Carolina)
“I was fortunate to work with Jason here at Saint Louis University. He was instrumental in establishing a professional and winning culture. He is an excellent hire and I am sure he will do well at Appalachian State.”
— Mike McGinty (head coach, Saint Louis University)
“I was fortunate to get to work with Jason early on in our professional careers and even more fortunate to be able to call him a great friend. Jason is one of the best recruiters in the country and has a proven track record of success. He knows the North Carolina soccer landscape as good as anyone and will be a perfect fit for Appalachian State and its athletics department.”
— Bobby Muuss (head coach, Wake Forest University)
“I’m very excited to see Coach O’Keefe get a solid job at a great school. During my time under Coach O’Keefe, I learned quite a bit about the game but much more about myself as a player. He is a very player-oriented coach and looks for the growth of each player, holistically, both on and off the field. I look forward to hearing about all the great things he will do at App State. Wishing you all the best, Coach O’Keefe!”
— Kingsley Bryce (Saint Louis student-athlete, 2011-15; Chicago Fire — Major League Soccer)
"App State has made a great hire. Coach O'Keefe is not only a great coach but a great person. He invests in the development of his players not only on the field but off of it. I can't wait to see what Coach O'Keefe accomplishes at Appalachian State."
— Clint Irwin (Elon student-athlete, 2007-10; Toronto FC, 2016 MLS Cup Runner Up)
“Jason is a guy who allows you to reach the next level and push your self to becoming better everyday. On those days when you feel too lazy or just not giving it your all, not only was Coach there to back me up but he pushed me past limits I didn’t even know I had. If it wasn’t for him there is no way our team would of been as successful as we were. On top of all that, he became more that just a coach to me but a mentor. It was a sad day to see him go from us to UNC but, with his resume, he deserves this more than anyone.”
— Robert Kristo (Saint Louis student-athlete, 2011-15; Spezia Calcio FC - Serie B)
