Jamie Clark knows soccer. Correction, Jamie Clark really knows soccer. The new Creighton men’s soccer coach has spent his entire life observing, playing and coaching soccer. The 33-year-old Clark has played in the MLS and coached four teams to the NCAA Men’s Division I Soccer Championship tournament. Now he has arrived at Morrison Stadium to do the same for the Bluejays.

Jamie Clark was born in Scotland to a devout soccer family. Leading the standard childhood of the son of a renowned soccer player and coach, Clark grew up on three different continents by the age of nine. The constant moving came as the result of his father playing and coaching around the world. While this might have upset other children, Clark understood that it came with the territory.

“We were and are a soccer family,” says Clark. “Almost all of our dinner conversations revolved around soccer in some capacity. Soccer became second nature from an early age.”

Finally ending up in New Hampshire, where his father Bobby coached Dartmouth College, Jamie played soccer and played it well. By the time he was ready to attend college he had multiple offers from various programs. But there was one place in particular that he wanted to play.

“I always thought that I was going to play for my father at Dartmouth, but then when he left I decided to attend North Carolina.”

Clark was at North Carolina for only a short time, however.

“When my father received the head coaching job at Stanford I knew that that was where I was going to play.”

Clark’s collegiate career thrived at Stanford. The two-time All-American attributes much of his success to having his father as his coach.

“I think I was held to higher standards as a player. I wanted to go out and prove that I belonged on the field and earned my playing time. My father is one of the best minds in the game and I was fortunate to play for him.”

His success at the collegiate level was recognized by professional teams when he was drafted 21st overall in the 1999 MLS College Draft by the San Jose Clash, now the San Jose Earthquakes. Clark’s career in the MLS started off very promising.

“I was fortunate enough to come straight out and play. The coaches who drafted me had a lot of faith in me.”

Unfortunately the head coach was let go two thirds of the way into Clark’s first season with the Clash. The move made Clark’s time in San Jose and the MLS more difficult.

“I had three coaches in 18 months and never really found my rhythm after that. But I was able to make great friends with teammates like Richard Mulrooney, a Creighton graduate.”

From playing to coaching, the transition for Clark was marked by his early sideline success as an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico. New Mexico went to the NCAA tournament three of the four years Clark was there and even reached the championship game in 2005 where they ultimately lost to the number one seed Maryland.

“It was a fun time. We came into a program that had minimal expectations and we came in and had a great freshman class and managed to grow each and every year.”

After four very successful years at New Mexico, Clark joined the Notre Dame coaching staff in 2006 as an assistant to his father, who has been the head coach there since 2001. Clark and his father were able to reach the NCAA tournament quarterfinals in back to back years, losing in overtime to the ensuing champions Wake Forest in 2007. During this time Clark benefited greatly by being on the same sideline as his father.

“He understands the game awfully well and how teams should operate. He knows the x’s and o’s of soccer and he’s a man who treats his players very well. He’s great at developing players but he’s even better at developing people.”

After spending two years with his father, Clark left for his first head coaching position at Harvard University. Clark led the Crimson to a 26-10-1 record during his two years at Harvard, which were capped off by two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

Following his stint at Harvard, Clark became the Creighton head coach in June of this year. To Clark it was the logical choice.

“Creighton is unique in that soccer really matters to the school and the community and we can have great success in both areas. Not that we couldn’t do that at Harvard but what we achieved was diminished in some way because it felt that it didn’t matter as much to the school as it could have. I want to be a part of something that matters. I felt Creighton was that place and it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Given Clark’s track record as both an assistant and head coach, it’s only a matter of time until he continues his illustrious run with the Bluejays.