Thomasville, GA | Athletic Director Kurt Stringfellow announced last week that the interim tag has been removed from Men's Soccer Coach, Billy Jeffery. 

Jeffery assumed the role of interim head coach at the midpoint of the 2023 season.  After taking over, Jeffery guided  Thomas to an undefeated record, for the remainder of the season, going 7-0-1 to close out the season.  During the stretch, Thomas had five clean sheets, including four consecutive at the start of Jeffery's tenure.  Thomas did not allow more than one goal in a game for the remainder of the season.

Jeffery's guidance helped turn the Thomas season around and allowed Thomas to earn a #4 seed in the SSAC tournament, and host their first round match.  The quarterfinal match would end in a draw, but Thomas would advance to the conference semifinals, via penalty kicks.  Thomas would ultimately lose to a top 10 in NAIA, the University of Mobile, 1-0, to end their season.

Jeffery stated, "Being named head coach of this program is a huge honor and responsibility that I do not take lightly at all. There have been so many alumni that have come before me, alongside me and have come after me that are counting on us to continue the success that this program is known for. Having played, been a graduate assistant under Ricky Zambrano and Assistant coach under Joe McDowell, I have learned a huge amount in these experiences since arriving on campus in August 2014, nearly 10 years ago.  I know what it means to be a part of successful program at this university. There have been huge strides made in recent times, with all the changes that the university has made in my time here. However, I feel as though we are in a very good situation to continue the work that was started with previous coaches and to see this group of guys reach and exceed levels that this program is used to. I am thoroughly looking forward to this challenge and look forward to leading current and future Nighthawks to reach their goals individually and collectively on and off the field."

Prior to being named the interim head coach, Jeffery took the helm as head coach for the Thomas University Men's Soccer Reserve team and Varsity assistant in August 2020. Jeffery is a TU alumnus and a former member of the Night Hawks soccer team.  Jeffery also currently serves as the Men's Soccer Reserves Team Head Coach. 

Originally from Tring, England, Jeffery grew up in a family of soccer fans. Jeffery has been a member of the Night Hawks family since 2014, when he moved to the United States to attend Thomas University.  He played on the varsity men's soccer team for four years.

During Jeffery's time as a student-athlete, the team won the Sun Conference tournament in 2014 and was the regular season champion in 2016. The Night Hawks also made TU's first national tournament appearances in 2014 and 2016. The Sun Conference named Jeffery Defensive Player of the Week in September 2016. He went on to serve as team captain in 2017.
 
Jeffery graduated from TU in 2018 with a bachelor's of science degree in biology and minors in sports studies and chemistry. Then he served as a graduate assistant for the men's soccer teams in 2018 and 2019. Jeffery graduated from TU in 2020 with a Master's of Business Administration. 

For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by play, and feature stories of your TU Men's soccer team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMSocc.