10 Seasons at Georgia Southern
Career Record - 65-99-12 (10 Seasons)
Record at GS - Same
Kevin Kennedy has been at the helm of the Georgia Southern men’s soccer program for 10 years, posting an overall record of 65-99-12. In his decade in Statesboro, Kennedy has coached 23 all-conference selections as well as two conference freshmen of the year and one conference player of the year.
Academically, Kennedy’s student-athletes have traditionally done very well in the classroom as evidence by his teams earning five NSCAA Team Academic Awards for averaging a team Grade Point Average above 3.0 for the year (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). In 2012, his team won the Georgia Southern Men’s Team GPA award with a 3.42 team GPA and both his 2014 and 2015 teams won the Sun Belt Team Academic Awards with team GPAs over 3.0.
He has had 30+ all-academic selections in his 10 years of coaching and while Georgia Southern was in the Southern Conference (SoCon), 30 Eagles earned SoCon Honor Roll plaudits, having earned at least a 3.0 GPA.
In 2015, the Eagles wrapped up their second season in the Sun Belt Conference with a 6-8-2 record. The Eagles recorded five shutouts on the season including three in conference play over Howard, Appalachian State and NJIT. The Eagles advanced to the SBC Tournament for the second straight year, ultimately falling 5-4 in PKs to rival Georgia State in the first round.
Five student-athletes were named to the Sun Belt All-Conference teams highlighted by senior Chase Park earning his second first team honor in as many seasons. Emmanuel Raji and Jeremy Rector were also named to the first team while Nick Wells and Jack Falle earned second team nods. Prior to the season, Raji and Falle were named the Sun Belt’s Preseason Offensive (Raji) and Defensive (Falle) Players of the Year.
In 2014, the Eagles made the jump from the SoCon to the Sun Belt and capped their innagural season in the SBC with an appearance in the SBC Tournament Championship Game, capping an 8-9 campaign. GS, the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, bested arch-rival Georgia State 2-1 in their first tournament game before falling 1-0 to No. 1 seed Hartwick.
Following the season, six Eagles were named to the Sun Belt All-Conference teams including David Vargas Masis, Thor Sveinbjornsson, Chase Park, Eric Dinka and Emmanuel Raji. Sveinbjornsson was also named the SBC Freshman of the Year. The six student-athletes earning all-conference accolades was a program record, surpassing the previous high of five set in 1997.
Georgia Southern’s 2013 squad closed the season on an upward trend, winning four of the last five regular season games including a 2-1 overtime victory at Furman behind a pair of goals from Witt Carlisle. The Eagles avenged a late-season loss at UNCG with a 1-0 victory over the Spartans to open their final postseason in the SoCon. That win sent the Eagles to their second-straight SoCon Semifinal appearance. That season, both Hunter Norton and Reed Norton were named to the All-SoCon team.
GS earned its second-straight home playoff game in 2012, placing fourth in the SoCon standings. The Eagles converted the home game into an overtime win and a trip to the SoCon Semifinals in Cary, N.C. The fourth place finish was solidified in the final game of the regular season when Georgia Southern scored twice late to equalize and defeat the College of Charleston in overtime.
After two years that didn’t reach expectations, the Eagles performed a patented Kennedy rebound in 2011. GS posted a 4-3 league mark, leading the conference in the early weeks of the season before ultimately finishing third. Georgia Southern also earned a home match in the 2011 SoCon Tournament, hosting a postseason game for the first time since 2008.
Stellar play from Luigi Clendening paced the Georgia Southern offense which scored its highest goal total since the 2001 season. Clendening scored 13 goals ranking among the top-10 goal scorers in the nation and earning SoCon Co-Player of the Year Honors. Joining him with All-SoCon honors was Hunter Norton, who earned the first of his three all-conference accolades.
The 2008 season was a year to remember for Kennedy. The Eagles became just the 16th different team to defeat Clemson under the lights at historic Riggs Field. Georgia Southern shocked a crowd of almost 6,000 defeating the Tigers 2-1 in one of the biggest non-conference wins in school history.
The memories didn’t end there for the Eagles. With SoCon Tournament seeding on the line, Kennedy’s squad pulled off another shocker earning the school’s first win over UNC Greensboro en route to a second place finish in the SoCon.
In 2007, Kennedy saw his Eagles take part in a rare opportunity, performing in front of a national audience. Played at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. (Oct. 26, 2007), Fox Soccer Channel broadcast a rematch of the 2006 SoCon Tournament championship.
Hired days before the team reported for fall practice in 2006 as the interim head coach, Kennedy helped turn around a 7-10-1 team that finished tied for last place in the SoCon in 2005, to a 10-6-3 record and a top-10 regional showing that ultimately peaked at No. 7 in the South region by the NSCAA/Adidas rankings. That 2006 squad posted the fourth-best winning percentage of a Georgia Southern team in program history and the Eagles’ eight shutouts that season was the most in a single season.
The remarkable turnaround resulted in Kennedy being named the 2006 SoCon Coach of the Year and he was soon promoted to his current permanent head coach status in December 2006 following a remarkable season that exceeded initial expectations.
The 2006 Eagles produced their best campaign since 1997 when Georgia Southern finished with a 14-4-2 record. Georgia Southern’s appearance in the SoCon Championship match versus UNC Greensboro (Nov. 5, 2006) was an accomplishment that hadn’t occurred in a decade.
During the 2006 campaign, the Eagles shut out eight teams, tying the record set back in 1990, including a scoreless draw versus visiting UNC Greensboro (Sep. 20, 2006), the eventual SoCon regular season and tournament winner and No. 15 ranked team in the country.
Following that successful first season, Jon Cox received the program’s first SoCon Freshman of the Year honor following the campaign.
Before coming to Statesboro, Kennedy enjoyed a successful coaching career at the club and high school levels including spending six years serving as the Director of Coaching and Club Director of the Augusta Arsenal Soccer Club. He oversaw a coaching staff of 25 and business operations of the club, in addition to coordinating the Capital Improvement projects at the Augusta Soccer Park.
Beginning in January of 2002, Kennedy was the boys head coach at Aquinas High School, leading the 2005 squad to the AA/A State championship. The Augusta Chronicle 2005 ‘Boys Soccer Coach of the Year’, Kennedy coached Aquinas to three consecutive Region 7-AA/A titles (2003-05) and during those same three years received the Team Academic Award by the NSCAA.
Kennedy earned his undergraduate degree in English in 1995 from Augusta College (now under the name of Augusta University) where he also played soccer. He then received his master’s degree in Sport Management from Georgia Southern and then went back to Augusta to work as a men’s soccer assistant coach during the 1999 season. He was a three-year team captain during his playing days for the Jaguars, twice was named to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll, and in 1995 received the Tommy Werrick Scholar-Athlete Award.
During his graduate work at Georgia Southern, he received a Teaching Excellence Award in 1999. A member of the GS club team, he was named to the All-Tournament Team at the National Club Championships.
A member of the NSCAA, he holds a United States Soccer Federation ‘A’ license and received from the NSCAA an Advanced National diploma and Director of Coaching diploma. Kennedy is also a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee. His four-year term began on September 1, 2015. Kennedy is one of the ten-member committee which is responsible, among other duties, for NCAA Tournament selections, rule changes, and administration of the sport throughout the season.
Kennedy is married to the former Ale Sabio, and they are the parents of a daughter, Meghan and a son, Jackson.
