JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State has hired a proven winner at multiple levels to lead its women's soccer program with the hiring of Sean Fraser on Thursday.
Athletics Director Greg Seitz announced the hiring of Fraser as just the fourth head coach in the program's history. He joins the Gamecocks from ULM, where he took over a program that hadn't won more than eight games in the previous 14 years and won at least eight in two of his three seasons.
In 10 seasons as a head coach, he has compiled a 120-69-12 record on the field and won three conference titles, two in Division II and one in NAIA. Jax State is his fourth head coaching stop after coaching the men's team at NAIA Midland University from 2011-14 and the women's teams at Div. II Lincoln Memorial from 2017-19 and Division I ULM from 2020-22.
"We're thrilled to welcome Sean Fraser to the Gamecock Family and are excited about the future of our soccer program under his guidance," Seitz said. "He has a proven track record of building programs that excel both on the field and in the classroom, and we are looking forward to the future of Gamecock Soccer as we move into Conference USA under his leadership."
That move into JSU's new conference home will begin immediately for Fraser. Who will lead the Gamecocks into C-USA in his first season in 2023.
"I want to thank Greg Seitz and Greg Bonds for the opportunity to lead JSU soccer moving forward," Fraser said. "Athletics and the University as a whole are both on an upward trajectory and I'm excited to be a part of the athletic department and can't wait to contribute to the university's success."
Fraser takes over a JSU program that went 3-13-2 in its last season in the ASUN Conference in 2022, a task that is not foreign to him. All three of his previous head coaching jobs won four or fewer games the year before his hiring and he produced double-digit wins in either the first or second seasons at all three.
At ULM, he took over a team that also went 3-13-2 prior to his arrival and had 14 wins by season's end of his second season in Monroe, La. That 2021 Warhawks team had a program-best RPI of 128 and won in the postseason twice with Sun Belt Tournament wins over Troy and No. 1 seed Arkansas State after not holding a postseason win since 2004.
He also claimed three United States Soccer Coaches Team Academic Awards in three seasons at ULM, while also earning the United States Soccer Coaches Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award in 2020. He also had two All-Sun Belt players, matching the total number of honorees the school had in its 15 previous seasons in the conference.
Fraser was hired at ULM after a three-year stint at Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, Tenn., that saw him take over a team that went 3-10-2 and then post a 38-20-2 record and win two South Atlantic Conference titles over his tenure. He won seven games in his first season before posting a 14-5-2 record in 2018 and a 17-5 record in 2019, winning the SAC Tournament in both of those campaigns. He was the 2018 SAC Coach of the Year after leading LMU to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. One year later, he led the Railsplitters to the Round of 32.
At LMU, Fraser coached 10 All-SAC selections and seven All-Southeast Region player, as well as one SAC Freshman of the Year. He also led LMU to an impressive run in the classroom, where his 2019 squad placed 19 student-athletes on the SAC Honor Roll and posted a team GPA of 3.38.
Prior to his time at LMU, he was the Assistant Men's Coach at the University of Charleston in Charleston, W.Va. for the 2016 season. The Golden Eagles went 19-3-2 with a Division II Nation Runner-Up finish, while also claiming the Mountain East regular season and tournament titles. Charleston won the Atlantic Region title, had three All-Americans and eight All-MEC players, while also claiming the Team Academic Award for that season.
From 2011-15, Fraser turned the Midland men's team around. He took over a Warriors team that went 4-10-2 prior to his arrival and posted double-digit wins in each of his four seasons. MU went 53-25-6 under his guidance, including the 2013 Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament title.
Midland reached the conference championship in all four seasons under Fraser, who coached 32 All-GPAC players and three All-Americans.
He got his coaching career started as a graduate assistant at his alma mater of Bethel University from 2008-10, winning a 2008 NAIA National Championship and the 2009 TranSouth Conference crown.
A native of Durham, England, Fraser received his bachelor's degree in PE, teaching and coaching from Bethel in 2008. He also has a master's degree in education from Bethel, as well as a master's in strategic leadership from Charleston and an MBA from Southwestern College.
He and his wife Taylor have a daughter, Daisy Jo.
