OMAHA, Neb. – New Creighton men’s soccer coach Jamie Clark has announced the coaching staff for his first year in Omaha. Johnny Torres will return for his fourth season on the Creighton bench and the Bluejays have hired Jeff Rowland, who worked at Harvard as a volunteer assistant coach under Clark in 2009. Former Bluejay standout, Matt Wieland, will also be a member of Clark’s first staff as a graduate assistant.
“Johnny has been the face of this program for a long time and he represents it extremely well,” said Clark of the Creighton Hall of Famer. “He was a great player and is a fantastic coach. He’s also a great ambassador to the Omaha community, so I know a lot of people around the city will be happy to hear he is still a Bluejay.”
Torres, arguably the greatest soccer player in school and Missouri Valley Conference history, was named Soccer America’s National Player of the Year as a junior in 1996 and then earned both the Hermann Trophy and the Missouri Athletic Club Award (prior to the combination of the awards) as a senior in 1997, recognizing him as the National Player of the Year. Upon the conclusion of his career, he was the MVC’s all-time scoring (128 points) and assists (36) leader. The fifth overall pick in the 1998 MLS SuperDraft, he played professional soccer for 10 years, including four seasons with the New England Revolution of MLS, before returning to Omaha in 2007 to complete his undergraduate degree and join the Bluejay coaching staff.
“I’m delighted to continue my time at Creighton and I’m excited to be able to continue to work with the guys,” said Torres. “I’m thankful to Jamie Clark for his graciousness in giving me the opportunity to stay and continue to be a part of the Creighton family. Obviously, I will miss Coach Warming and Coach Mims as they are both tremendous coaches and I learned so much from them, but at the same time I’m excited about the new challenges ahead.”
“I feel very fortunate to bring Jeff along with me,” said Clark of Rowland’s hire. “He was the reason for our attacking success at Harvard last year, working with National Player of the Year runner-up Andre Akpan. We will look to have that same attacking success with him working with our forward and wide players here.”
Rowland served as a volunteer assistant at Harvard last year, helping the Crimson reach the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Akpan ranked 13th in the NCAA in goals per game and 15th in points per game for Harvard last year, while the Crimson ranked 34th in the NCAA in scoring. Rowland, a 2006 graduate of New Mexico, joins both Clark and Torres as former professional players and first-team NSCAA All-Americans on the Bluejay staff. Rowland was the runner-up for the MAC Hermann Trophy (National Player of the Year) as a senior in 2005, was a two-time NSCAA First-Team All-American and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American for the Lobos. He was drafted and played two seasons for Real Salt Lake of MLS and also played professionally for the Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) and FC Dallas (MLS) before injuries cut short his playing career.
"I’m excited to come to a top-notch program and continue coaching under Jamie,” said Rowland, who was a player at New Mexico during Clark’s four-year stint as an assistant with the Lobos. “Everywhere Jamie has been a coach, he’s been successful, so I know this will be a great opportunity to work under him.”
“The combination of having two of the best attacking players ever to play to the college game on one staff will greatly benefit us,” said Clark. “Young players looking to come here with the prospects of attacking will have an opportunity to work with the best.”
Wieland returns to his alma mater to serve as a graduate assistant. A 2006 graduate, Wieland was a third-team NSCAA All-American and CoSIDA Academic All-American as a senior in 2005, when he was also the MVC Tournament MVP. The 2003 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and Omaha native was drafted by the New England Revolution in the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft.
“Having Matt return keeps the tradition of former Bluejays coming back and wanting to stay involved with this program,” said Clark.
The Bluejays open their 2010 regular-season at Loyola Chicago on Sept. 1. Creighton’s first regular-season home match at Morrison Stadium is Sept. 4 when the Jays host UNC Greensboro.
