Jesse Miech enters his fifth season in the fall of 2015 as the head men's soccer coach at Illinois Springfield.
Miech has taken the program from an 0-14-2 record in 2011, to an 8-10 record in 2013. In 2014, the Prairie Stars finished 6-12 highlighted by a 2-1 win against Rockhurst (Oct. 10) on Homecoming night. The program also achieved the UIS Community Outreach Award by serving a total of 562 volunteer hours across 13 different organizations, and the NSCAA Team Academic Award by having a team grade-point-average over 3.0 for the 2014-15 academic year.
Miech came to UIS after spending the 2010 season at Saint Louis University where he served as an assistant coach. His coaching experience also includes stints at three other NCAA Division I universities; Clemson, Virginia Tech and Missouri State.
Along with his collegiate coaching duties, Miech also had been working with St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro Academy team up until the summer of 2013. This experience has familiarized him with high-caliber soccer talent throughout Illinois and Missouri.
Miech spent the spring of 2010 as a volunteer assistant coach at Virginia Tech. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Clemson for two seasons starting in the spring of 2008. While with the Tigers, Miech assisted in the day-to-day operations of the soccer program.
Prior to his stint at Clemson, Miech spent two seasons at Missouri State beginning the summer of 2006. He coached the Bears' goal keepers and was the programs' lead recruiter.
Miech played collegiately at Creighton for two seasons and was a member of the 2000 Bluejay squad that advanced to the NCAA National Championship before finishing runner-up to the University of Connecticut. Miech transferred to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he earned NAIA All-America honors as a senior and set school records for saves, save percentage, shutouts and wins. Miech played three seasons in the PDL for the Sioux Falls Spitfire finishing third in the country in 2001.
In addition to to his collegiate experience, Miech has worked at a variety of clubs and camps as well. He was the assistant director of the Clemson Soccer Academy from 2008-09. The Clemson Academy was the largest all-male soccer camp in the country boasting over 2,200 residential campers. Miech was also the director of coaching for the Clemson Anderson Soccer Alliance (SC) which is a club that supports boys and girls teams for the ages from U8 to U18.
A 2005 graduate of Morningside, Miech double majored in graphic design, and philosophical and religious studies. He earned his master's degree in administrative studies (MSAS) with an emphasis in sports management from Missouri State, graduating magna cum laude in 2007.
Miech holds a USSF "A" license and earned the USSF’s National Goalkeeping Diploma. He also holds a NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma and a NSCAA Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma.
Miech comes from a coaching family. His father, John, was the head football coach at Wisconsin-Stevens Point for 24 years. He is currently an assistant coach at UW-Whitewater. In 2013, John won his second Division III National Championship in his coaching career. Miech’s mother, Sheila, was the head women’s soccer coach for the Pointers for 25 years and guided the Pointers through the longest conference winning streak in NCAA history, a 70-match streak from 1997-2003.
Jesse and his wife Lexi Miech reside in Rochester, Illinois with their daughter Aliyah. Lexi is entering her fourth season as Head Cheerleading Coach at Illinois Springfield.
