ST. AUGUSTINE – Flagler College Director of Athletics Jud Damon announced this afternoon that Thomas Coombes has been named the 11^th head coach of the Saints men's soccer program.

"Thomas did a superb job leading the program this season and certainly proved that he is the man for the job," said Damon. "In addition to the competitive success, he led the program with a commitment our department's and the College's values – and he did it with a work ethic and energy that is hard to match! We are thrilled to have Coach Coombes leading our program and expect nothing but even greater success in the years to come."

Coombes was the interim head coach this season and guided the Saints to a 10-4-3 overall record and an 8-2-2 mark in the Peach Belt Conference. Flagler played in the PBC Tournament title game and went 8-2-1 in its last 11 matches. He coached four players to All-PBC honors. Tirso Trueba was selected as the PBC's Defensive Player of the Year and George Winser was named the PBC's Freshman of the Year. A Flagler player hadn't won the freshman of the year honor since 2009.  

"I am extremely happy to be named the head coach of the men's soccer program on a permanent basis," said Coombes. "I would like to thank Mr. Damon for trusting in me and giving me this opportunity to lead the program moving forward. I would also like to thank the rest of the athletic staff and administration for all of the support and encouragement they showed to myself and the team while I was the interim. This season was special for a number of reasons and I hope there are many more special seasons to come in the future."

Before taking over as the interim head coach this past June, Coombes served as Flagler's assistant coach for two seasons under head coach Chris Kranjc. Prior to his time at Flagler, he was an assistant coach for two years (2018-19) at Bloomsburg (Pa.) University and was a volunteer assistant at his alma mater Barry University in 2017. As a player, Coombes is fourth all-time in goals scored (33) and sixth in points (82). He was a D2CCA honorable mention All-American in 2016 and was a CoSIDA Academic All-America® third team selection. Coombes was a two-time All-Sunshine State Conference honoree.

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