BEREA, Ohio – Baldwin Wallace University Men's Soccer Head Coach Reid Ayers has announced that BJ Pheasant will join the staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the 2017 season.
"I am excited to add Coach Pheasant to the BW staff," Ayers stated. "His experience in the game and his scientific approach to recruiting and building aspects of a college program will add a new dimension."
Pheasant comes to BW from Thomas More College as a member of the coaching staff that earned the 2016 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Region Coaching Staff of the Year award. Last season, the Saints won their sixth straight Presidents' Athletic Conference title and reached No. 3 in the country with a 22-1-1 record, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. Thomas More is one of only three teams out of 433 Division III teams to advance to the Sweet Sixteen or better in each of the past four seasons.
Prior to his time at Thomas More, Pheasant helped to build Division III soccer programs at Franklin College, Concordia University Chicago (CUC) and Manchester University. At Franklin College, he was part of the coaching staff that turned the team around from only three wins the previous season to the first winning season in program history. At CUC, the program had a 1-15 record prior to Pheasant's arrival and, in four years as an assistant coach, recorded four consecutive double-digit winning seasons while qualifying for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament for the first time.
Before Pheasant's collegiate coaching career, he coached high school teams for 11 years, club teams for 19 years and coached in the Olympic Development Program (ODP). He has a career record of 425-161-76 in his 51 seasons of action across all levels and has two state titles and two Final Four appearances in club soccer as well as two teams that advanced to semi state at the high school level. He also has both NSCAA Advanced National and Level 3 Goal Keeping Diplomas.
Pheasant earned undergraduate degrees in business and agricultural economics from Purdue University in 2002 and received a Master's degree in Athletic Administration & Sports Manangement from Indiana University in 2009. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program at Concordia University Chicago in leadership and change management.
