Brendan Connolly enters his 10th year as head coach of the Jones College men’s soccer program.
Connolly is 104-39-9 overall (.714) in nine seasons, leading the Bobcats to five MACCC Championships the past seven years and a pair of NJCAA Division II Tournament appearances in 2022 and the 2021 spring season.
All of the program's conference titles have come during his tenure.
Jones finished 11-3-3 last year and unbeaten in conference play at 8-0-3. The Bobcats have lost just one conference match the last three seasons and are a combined 27-1-4 in the MACCC.
Connolly managed Jones to a 14-3-2 mark in 2023 and MACCC runner-up finish.
The Belfast, Ireland, native joined the JC coaching staff as an assistant in August 2011 working mostly with the goalkeepers for both the men’s and women’s teams at one time and an instructor in the HPR Department before being named head coach prior to the start of the 2016 season.
Recognized four times as the MACCC Coaching Staff of the Year, Connolly and the Bobcats are three years removed from their best season in the team's history.
Jones completed the program's first-ever undefeated regular season on its way to conference, region and district titles in 2022. The lone blemish on a remarkable 16-1 season was a setback to eventual national champion Prairie State College, 2-0, in the national tournament.
History was also made on October 10, 2022, when both the NJCAA Division II Poll and United Soccer Coaches tabbed Jones as the No. 1 team in the country for the first time.
Prior to going 11-3-1 in the 2021 fall season, Jones finished 13-4 in a CoVID-19 postponed season with a perfect 7-0 mark at home in the spring of 2021. They ran roughshod through the conference/region tournament, outscoring Holmes, Hinds and No. 12 Pearl River 17-3 to claim a third-straight championship.
Behind Elean Fajardo's double overtime golden goal, Jones won its first NJCAA Tournament game in program history, 2-1, over No. 8 Southeastern (Iowa) on June 6.
Jones' 2019 squad was unbeaten in September and October and defeated MGCCC 4-3 in penalty kicks in the title match. JC started the year 4-4 before finishing 12-6-1.
Jones went 14-3-1 in 2018 and won its first MACCC championship with a thrilling, 2-1 OT victory over Southwest. The Bobcats advanced to the NJCAA South District playoffs for the first time in school history, dropping a 3-0 decision at No. 4 Tyler JC.
Connolly led the Bobcats to a 5-8-1 record in 2017 and an 8-8 mark in 2016 and a berth in the MACCC/Region 23 Tournament semifinals.
Connolly has coached all five of Jones' NJCAA and United Soccer Coaches All-Americans in program history and 28 four-year signees.
The Bobcats have also been recognized as an NJCAA and United Soccer Coaches All-Academic Team in five consecutive seasons, a commitment to winning on and off the pitch.
Connolly played soccer in Ireland for Newington, Glentoran and Cliftonville. He came to the United States in August of 2007 on a soccer scholarship to William Carey University. He was a part of the WCU men’s soccer program from 2007-10.
The Crusaders won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) in 2007 and participated in the NAIA men’s soccer national championships in 2009 and 2010. The Crusaders were also ranked in the Top 25 during his time at WCU.
Connolly was named an Academic All-American in 2010 and graduated with a BS degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from WCU in August of 2011. He earned his master’s in Sports Management in 2013 at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Brendan is married to the former Kathryn Ferrell of Hattiesburg and the couple welcomed a baby boy, John, in July 2023.
