DENVER – Jack and Sheila Weinberg Head Men's Soccer Coach Jamie Franks has agreed to a multi-year contract extension to continue to lead the University of Denver program, Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Ritchie Center Operations Josh Berlo announced on Thursday.
"Jamie has established the University of Denver men's soccer team as a nationally competitive program," Berlo said. "Moreover, this group not only wins at a high level nationally on the field, but also in the classroom. Jamie's teams have routinely produced GPAs that rank in the top two in Division I men's soccer. Concurrently, his student-athletes are highly engaged in the community and great representatives of our University. We are proud to have Jamie continue to lead the Pioneer men's soccer program for the foreseeable future."
Franks completed his eighth season as Denver's head coach and his 11th with the program overall last fall after being named the 10th head coach in the program's history in January of 2015.
In eight seasons, the head coach of the 2016 National Coaching Staff of the Year has put together a record of 97-33-23, improving Denver's record since Franks joined the staff as an assistant in 2012 to 132-50-31. Combined as a player and coach, Franks is 231-77-48 in college soccer, having reached five College Cups and winning a national championship at Wake Forest as a player in that span.
"The University of Denver is a special place, and I'm excited to continue to lead the program to win its first national championship," Franks said. "I'm proud we have established ourselves as a top-25 program, but there's more continued success ahead, and a commitment from our student-athletes to build on the established culture of the organization and continue to work for a national championship. I'm thankful for Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, and his support of our athletic department, and Vice Chancellor Josh Berlo and our sport administrator Brandon Macneill for their trust in me and giving us the resources to build a holistic program that centers around the development of people and a performance environment. Finally, thank you to Jack and Sheila Weinberg for their continued support of Denver men's soccer, it impacts our student-athletes every day."
The four-time Summit League Coach of the Year and the head coach of the 2016 NSCAA West Regional Staff of the Year was the youngest head coach in Division I in 2015 and the second youngest in 2016, earning the promotion from his assistant coaching role following the departure of Bobby Muuss to Franks' alma mater following the 2014 season.
In just his second season in charge in 2016, Franks led the Pioneers to their first College Cup appearance in program history after picking up multiple wins (three) in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and earning their first postseason victory since 1970.
Franks ended his second season at 35-2-6, having not lost in the regular season and having not suffered a defeat in regulation in his coaching tenure through two seasons. Following that 2016 regular season, the Pioneers became the first program since Clemson in 1977-78 to finish consecutive regular seasons unbeaten.
In his eight seasons in charge, Franks has led the Pios to the NCAA Tournament seven times and has received byes as one of the top 16 seeds in three of those campaigns.
Denver has also done its work in the classroom under Franks, producing the top Division I grade point average in the country five of seven seasons and the second-best GPA in the country twice.
Under Franks, Denver has produced its first five MLS First Round draft picks in program history (Dunk – 2017, Hamilton – 2017, Smith – 2018, Shinyashiki – 2019, Drack – 2021) and 2017 Colorado Rapids Homegrown signing Kortne Ford, who would have likely gone in the top five of the 2017 MLS Super Draft. Shinyashiki was named the MLS Rookie of the Year in 2019 following his 28-goal season with the Pioneers in 2018.
Denver reached the second round of the NCAA tournament a year ago and will look to build upon its 14-3-5 campaign in Franks' ninth season in charge beginning this August.
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