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Paul Jobson is a National “A” Licensed coach who finished his 14th and final season at Baylor and his ninth as head coach after spending the 2013 and 2014 seasons as co-head coach with his wife, former US Women’s National Team member.
Jobson is finishing his career at Baylor with a 97-57-26 mark, including 40-28-12 in Big 12 play. He led the Bears to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Elite 8 appearances in 2017 and 2018. He also helped guide Baylor to three of the four Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles in program history.
During his final season, Jobson notched an 8-5-6 overall record in 2021, bringing his team to a third-place finish in the Big 12 with a 4-2-3 conference mark. His team started the season strong and began Big 12 play 3-0 after facing top conference teams Oklahoma State, TCU, and Texas Tech. The Bears knocked off No. 8 TCU, 2-1 in Fort Worth, handing the Frogs their only loss in Big 12 play.
Jobson became the program’s all-time wins leader in 2019, his seventh season as head coach of the Bears.
During his time at Baylor, Jobson has helped guide the Bears to some of their best seasons in recent memory. Since arriving at Baylor in 2008, he has played a significant role in leading the Bears to some of the most successful seasons in BU history, culminating in the program’s first Big 12 Championship title and a 2012 Sweet 16 appearance. Finishing with the highest ranking and best record (19-1-5) in program history, the 2012 squad ended its Sweet 16 run with the 11th spot in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Poll.
The 2018 team topped all of those marks in a year for the record books. Led by Jobson, the Big 12 Coach of the Year, the Bears completed a perfect 13-0 mark at home, a program best, en route to securing the first Big 12 regular season title since 1998. Baylor went on to record 20 wins on the season, the most in program history as the Bears advanced to their second consecutive Elite Eight appearance. BU finished the season ranked No. 9 in the NSCAA Poll, a new program high.
The Bears netted 49 goals in 2018, led by Camryn Wendlandt and Julie James with 10 each. It marked the first time BU had a pair of double-digit goal scorers since 2012.
Baylor continued to add accolades in the postseason as the Bears led the league with 16 Academic All-Big 12 selections. BU added a total of seven All-Big 12 honors and four All-Region honors. Julie James became the first Bear in program history to be named an All-American First Team member.
The 2017 squad cemented its legacy as one of the most successful campaigns in program history, finishing 15-6-3 on the season and posting a historic run through postseason. After sweeping through the program’s second Big 12 Championship tournament title with a 2-1 overtime win over TCU, Baylor clinched its first NCAA postseason bid since 2012. BU’s Cinderella run continued after an opening round win over Rice. The Bears advanced on penalty kicks over the defending national champions, USC, and punched their ticket into the program’s first-ever Elite 8 with a golden goal, overtime win over Notre Dame.
Baylor stacked a number of postseason honors, including four All-Big 12 selections and four United Soccer Coaches All-Region selections. Aline De Lima became the fourth All-American in program history, the first since 2012. De Lima was named the Big 12 Championship Offensive Most Outstanding Player, the third Bear to ever win the honor. BU finished the season as the No. 11 team in the country, matching the 2012 team for the best finish in the polls in program history.
The Bears set a Big 12 record with 17 Academic All-Big 12 selections, all first team honorees. Precious Akanyirige earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, was named Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year and earned the Big 12’s Postgraduate Scholarship. She was also named Baylor’s nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Julie James earned the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America honors and De Lima was named Baylor’s nominee for the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year.
In the spring 2018 offseason, following the 2017 campaign, both James and De Lima received calls to their respective national teams, with Julie called in to the U-23 team for the USWNT and Aline earning a spot on the full Brazilian national team, going on to win the 2018 Copa America Femenina title. The victory qualified Brazil for the 2019 Women’s World Cup and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
In 2019, the Bears battled through injury for an 8-8-3 finish. Seven matches went into extra time as BU went 3-1-3 in overtime matches on the year.
Off the field, the Bears had their strongest academic finish to date. After leading all Baylor programs with a 3.64 GPA in the fall semester, the soccer squad set a program record with a 3.82 GPA in the spring. Ovearll, Baylor finished with a 3.69 cumulative GPA for the year.
In 2016, the Bears posted a 12-7-1 record and 4-3-1 in Big 12, marking eight straight seasons with at least eight wins. BU reached 12 or more wins for the first time since 2012 and the third time in the last six years. In year two under Jobson, the Bears improved from 32% to 40% in shutout percentages, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that the team has blanked its opponents in 40% or more contests.
Julie James earned NCSAA All-Central Region third team, the first such selection for Baylor since 2012 and the 13th selection in program history. James was joined by Lauren Piercy as All-Big 12 selections, the first time the Bears have had two all-conference selections since 2012. Raegan Padgett marked the third straight season BU has had a Big 12 All-Freshman selection and the program logged 13 Academic All-Big 12 honorees, marking the 10th-straight season with at least 10 selections.
In the 2015 campaign, the Bears moved into a new $3.3 million home in the Williams Family Soccer Center on Aug. 20. During the season, BU posted a 9-6-4 record with a 4-1-2 mark in Big 12 play to tie for the program’s second highest league finish (second place). The team’s four Big 12 wins marked the most since the 2012 season. Coach Jobson earned his first-ever win as a Division I head coach on Sept. 6 at Incarnate Word (7-1). The Bears went undefeated in 12 of their last 14 matches to end the season.
Among on-field honors in 2015, Lauren Piercy gave BU its first-ever end-of-season award from the league by being named Co-Big 12 Freshman of the Year, in addition to being a second-team All-Big 12 selection and one of a program-record and league-high four Big 12 All-Freshman Team choices.
In 2014, BU went 9-8-3 and ended on a high note with a good run at the 2014 Big 12 Championship as the No. 7 seed, knocking out No. 2 seed Oklahoma State in a 1-0 decision before falling on penalty kicks to No. 6 seed Oklahoma. Baylor’s run in the league tournament marked the second straight year beating a higher seeded team. Along with earning the NSCAA 2013-14 Team Academic Award with a 3.55 team GPA, the Bears also led the league in Academic All-Big 12 selections for the fourth straight year with 13 honorees.
The 2013 season saw Baylor surpass the 10-win mark for the fourth straight season -- the first such run since the program did so five straight years from 1996-2000. Additionally, BU set program records for most matches without a loss (31), most home matches without a loss (17) and most consecutive home wins (14). Perhaps the highlight of the season was getting off to a hot start to earn a No. 9 ranking in the NSCAA poll on Sept. 3, 2013 -- the program’s highest-ever ranking by the NSCAA.
The 2011-12 seasons resulted in unprecedented success as the Bears posted 15 or more wins back-to-back for the first time in program history and advanced past the NCAA Tournament first round both times - another program first.
In 2011, Jobson led the Bears to their then-second-most wins (15) in school history and most Big 12 wins (6) since 2000. BU was also selected for the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1999. Once in the 64-team field, Baylor earned its first-ever NCAA win with a 3-0 victory over Texas State at Betty Lou Mays Field.
In 2010, Jobson assisted in turning BU into an 11-win team, the most victories since 1999. In addition, the defense put up the then-lowest goal against average in program history (0.81).
Much of the success on the field by the Jobsons can be credited to their emphasis on man-marking defense that has resulted in six of the program’s lowest goals allowed averages. The 2012 team set the record by only allowing 0.53 goals per game. The other six seasons were also under one goal per game (0.95 in 2009, 0.81 in 2010, 0.79 in 2011, 0.63 in 2013, 0.77 in 2014, 0.89 in 2015) -- prior to 2009, the program only had one season with an average under 1.15 goals allowed and that was in 1998 (0.98) in Baylor’s third-ever soccer season (program began in 1996). Consequently, BU racked up nine or more shutouts from 2010-14 for a program record. The last time the Bears had a similar streak was in their first three seasons (10 shutouts in 1996, nine in 1997, 11 in 1998).
The Conyers, Ga., native was a three-year letterman at Presbyterian College in South Carolina and was a member of the squad which made the school’s first NCAA Division II championship appearance. The Blue Hose compiled a 17-3-1 ledger that included the South Atlantic Conference regular season and postseason tourney championships.
Jobson helped Presbyterian to a 15-4-3 mark and regular season and conference tournament titles during the 1996 campaign. The following season, he was part of a team that notched 11 victories before opting to begin his coaching career as a senior.
During his senior season at PC, Jobson served as a student assistant coach while finishing his bachelor’s degree in accountancy in 1999. Upon graduation, Jobson moved into a role as assistant men’s soccer coach and assistant sports information director at Presbyterian until he left to work for his family’s business a year later.
In 2002, Jobson resumed his work in soccer when he took a position with the Atlanta Beat of the WUSA (women’s professional soccer league). In his role with the team, Jobson was able to work in many different facets of the soccer world, including promotion, youth soccer development and game day operations. Jobson’s duties with the Beat ranged from serving as an account executive to being program director for youth player development, co-producer of the Atlanta Beat Road Show, and manager of the ajcjobs.com kickback zone. There he also met his future bride, Marci Miller, who was playing for the team.
Throughout his soccer experiences, Jobson turned sports administration duties into his specialty, routinely taking on the tasks of fund-raising, budgets and camps.
A graduate of Salem High School (Conyers, Ga.), Jobson has also served as the Soccer Director and Program Supervisor for the Snellville (Ga.) Parks and Recreation Department as well as the Athletic Coordinator for Recreation and Select Soccer for the Alpharetta (Ga.) Recreation and Parks Department.
In 2014, Jobson was named to the inaugural class of the Salem High School Athletics Hall of Fame, recognizing his high school soccer playing career in which he was the first Salem athlete ever to be named as an all-state selection.
In 2005, Jobson served as the junior varsity soccer coach at Milton High School in Alpharetta, Ga., where he guided one of the best JV programs in the state. Jobson also served as the Executive Director of the Atlanta Youth Soccer Association. In 2005, Jobson earned his USSF National `B’ license.
Prior to Baylor, Jobson was on the Northern Illinois staff as an assistant coach from 2005-06 and was named associate head coach for the 2007 season. During his tenure, Jobson helped lead NIU from five wins his first season to 10 wins in 2007.
The 1999 Presbyterian (S.C.) graduate married Marci Jobson in August 2004. They have four sons, Miller, Grey, Nash, and Jett.
PAUL JOBSON YEAR-BY-YEAR
Season School Overall Conference Postseason
2013 Baylor 11-6-3 3-4-1 (t-4th) Lost in Big 12 Tournament (Second Round)
2014 Baylor 9-8-3 2-5-1 (7th) Lost in Big 12 Tournament (Second Round)
2015 Baylor 9-6-4 4-1-2 (2nd) Lost in Big 12 Tournament (Second Round)
2016 Baylor 12-7-1 4-3-1 (t-3rd) Lost in Big 12 Tournament (Second Round)
2017 Baylor 15-6-3 4-4-1 (5th) Won Big 12 Tournament, NCAA Elite 8
2018 Baylor 20-6 8-1 (1st) Runner-up Big 12 Tournament, NCAA Elite 8
2019 Baylor 8-8-3 (7th) Lost in Big 12 Tournament (First Round)
2020 Baylor 5-5-3 (5th) Big 12 Tournament Cancelled
2021 Baylor 8-5-6 (3rd) Lost in Big 12 Tournament (First Round)
Total Baylor 97-57-26 40-28-12
Total Career 97-57-26 40-28-12