COACHING RECORD
Overall Record at Omaha: 51-52-15 (.496)
Career Record: same
Conference Record: 19-11-6 (.611)
HONORS AND AWARDS
NSCAA National Youth Coach of the Year finalist (2007)
NSCAA Regional Youth Coach of the Year (2007)
MVC Assistant Coach of the Year (2008)
NSCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year (2008)
Summit League Regular Season Title (2014, 2016)
Summit League Postseason Title (2017)
Summit League Coach of the Year (2014)
Head coach Jason Mims wrapped up his seventh season at the helm of the Omaha men’s soccer program in 2017. Mims has coached six players to all-region accolades, and Mark Moulton earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 2016. Also, 27 of his players have won a combined 43 all-conference awards, with 14 All-Summit First Team honorees. The Mavericks also have had 16 Academic All-Summit League and nine all-conference tournament selections. Two Mavericks have been chosen in the MLS SuperDraft: Emir Alihodzic (3rd Round, Seattle Sounders, 2016) and Xavier Gomez (2nd Round, Minnesota United, 2017).
In 2017, Omaha clinched the first Summit League postseason title in school history by defeating Denver 9-8 in an 11 round shootout. The Mavericks also advanced to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship for the first time in program history facing No. 13 Florida International. The Mavericks ended the season with a 10-6-3 record (2-1-2 Summit League), while 11 players earned postseason honors. Emmanuel Hamzat and Seth Rinderknecht were repeat First Team All-Summit picks, while Xavier Gomez and Elvir Ibisevic garnered First Team accolades. Joseph Ghitis and Cole Nelson were Second Team selections. Brahan Gamarra, Miguel Gomez, Diego Gutierrez and Stevie Siy each earned a spot on the league’s all-newcomer team. UNO opened the season with seven-straight wins and were ranked as high as No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches/NCAA Top 25 poll. Top Drawer Soccer also ranked Omaha as high as ninth during that timeframe.
The Mavericks opened the 2017 season with a 2-1 overtime win over Grand Canyon before storming by then-No. 17 Virginia Tech, 5-1. In the match against Hokies, Elvir Ibisevic scored three goals in the game’s opening 10:01. The hat trick was the first program history and the second fastest in NCAA Division I history. Two weeks later, The Mavericks scored two goals in 17 seconds to defeat Bradley 2-1 at Caniglia Field and improved to 6-0 for the first time in program history. Omaha welcomed the largest crowd for any home soccer event at Caniglia Field on Sept. 26 matchup against No. 25 Creighton. An estimated crowd of 4,986 packed the complex and is the highest figure in either men’s or women’s soccer history. Ibisevic finished the season tied for the Summit League lead with nine goals, and Gomez led the league with eight assists.
Omaha clinched its second Summit League regular season title with a 5-0-1 record in 2016. The Mavericks finished the regular season 10-5-4, earned the top seed in the Summit League Tournament and advanced to the conference tournament finals. Omaha played to a 1-1 draw with No. 8 Creighton in front of 4,766 fans. The Mavericks put together a six-match home-unbeaten streak until dropping a 1-0 decision to Valparaiso. UNO battled No. 3/4 Denver to a 0-0 draw on senior day at Caniglia Field. Omaha then defeated Oral Roberts 3-1 on Nov. 5 to clinch the top-seed in the Summit League Tournament. The Mavericks picked up their first-ever tournament win with a 3-1 defeat of Eastern Illinois. In the conference tournament finals, Omaha scored the first goal against host Denver before falling 2-1.
Fazlo Alihodzic tied for the league lead with nine goals and 25 points. Goalkeeper Joseph Ghitis led the lead with a .763 save percentage and was second with a 1.06 goals-against average and 61 saves. Alihodzic, Ghitis, Emmanuel Hamzat and Seth Rinderknecht earned First Team All-League honors while Mark Moulton and Jacob Weiler captured Second Team honors. Hamzat, Rinderknecht and Fred Frimpong each won a spot on the All-Newcomer team. Alihodzic became the first Omaha player to be named Summit League Offensive Player of the Year while Hamzat picked up Newcomer of the Year accolades. Alihodzic, Lalo Gamboa and Jake McCain took home All-Tournament honors. Moulton was named the program's first-ever First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American and was a nominee for the Senior CLASS award.
The 2015 campaign saw Omaha finish with a 9-6-3 overall mark and finish second in the Summit League with a 3-2-1 record. Mims' team qualified for the Summit League postseason tournament in its first full season of Division I eligibility and achieved the program's first Top 25 ranking. The season opened with an exhibition victory over preseason No. 9/10 Washington and continued with four straight wins to start the regular season, including a 1-0 win over No. 13 UC Irvine. Following the victory, Omaha entered the national polls for the first time with a No. 22 ranking from Topdrawersoccer.com at No. 22, while Soccer America had the Mavericks at No. 23. They would also reach as high as No. 23 in the NSCAA/NCAA Poll after topping Bradley in double overtime, 3-2. The Mavericks would play three teams that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championships (Drake, Denver, and Rutgers). UNO entered its first Summit League tournament as the No. 2 seed but fell in double overtime to Oral Roberts, 2-1. The Mavericks set a school record for most goals in a season with 30.
In 2014, Mims led the Mavericks to their best season in program history with a 10-5-2 record and a share of the Summit League regular season title. UNO did not shy away from competition in 2014, as they traveled to Los Angeles, Calif. for an exhibition match against No. 4 UCLA. The Mavericks also lost to No. 20 Stanford at home in overtime and tied No. 24 Cal State Northridge in Fullerton, Calif. The Mavericks defense posted a program-best eight shutouts and had 0.78 goals against average. Nick Miller, Mark Moulton, and Vance Rookwood went on to earn All-Summit League First Team honors, while Felipe da Silva and Emir Alihodzic were named to the second team. Joseph Ghitis and Michael Jaime earned spots on the Summit League All-Newcomer Team. Mims was honored as Coach of the Year for his team's performance on the pitch. The 2014 team was awarded its fourth-straight NSCAA Team Academic Award and had four players named to the Academic All-Summit League team. The Mavericks also placed 14 players on the Summit League Academic Honor Roll.
In 2013, UNO pulled off a stunning 1-1 draw at No. 6 Creighton in an exhibition match and later in the year debuted their newly renovated Caniglia Field, featuring one of the finest playing surfaces in the country. Under Mims, the Mavericks' attacking style continued to take shape, as UNO's 108 shots on goal quickly surpassed the 80 SOG in 2012 and 43 in 2011. Freshman Christian Garcia went on to earn Summit League Newcomer of the Year, and Felipe da Silva was an All-Summit League First Team center back. The 2013 team won its third straight NSCAA Team Academic Award and had two players earn Academic All-Summit League honors. UNO had 12 players named to the Summit League Academic Honor Roll.
In 2012, the Mavericks were a surprise in The Summit League, finishing in a tie for fourth place in the league standings with a 3-3-1 record. Against the top three teams in the league, the Mavericks took a draw and two overtime losses. In its first year in The Summit League, UNO's high-powered offense finished second in the league with 26 goals on the season. In conference play, the Mavericks were third with 11 goals scored and gave up just seven goals, the second-fewest in the league. The Mavericks carried that momentum into the spring season, defeating two-time defending College Cup participant Creighton in an exhibition match in April. The 2012 team earned its second straight NSCAA Team Academic Award and had one player named to the Academic All-Summit League team. The Mavericks placed 16 players on the Summit League Academic Honor Roll.
Trev Alberts, Omaha’s Director of Athletics, named Mims the first head coach in program history on April 21, 2011. Coach Mims spent 10 years as an assistant coach at Creighton, helping then-head coach Bob Warming create the Bluejays' program from the ground up. Mims helped lead Creighton to eight straight NCAA tournament appearances and six Missouri Valley Conference Championships. He was a two-time finalist for the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year award, the 2008 MVC Assistant Coach of the Year and the 2008 NSCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Recognized as one of the best identifiers and developers of college soccer players in the nation, Mims recruited 10 All-Americans, eight conference players of the year, 21 all-region honorees and 50 all-conference picks at Creighton.
Mims also coached club soccer for six years while in Omaha, winning the Nebraska state championship each season and qualifying for the national tournament once by winning the Region II championship. In 2007, he was an NSCAA National Youth Coach of the Year finalist and the region coach of the year.
He served as an assistant coach under head coach Bob Warming at Penn State for one season. Previously, he served as Warming’s assistant for nine seasons on the Creighton staff, the Bluejays had at least one National Player of the Year candidate. Creighton has also boasted an offense ranked among the most prolific in the Missouri Valley Conference on an annual basis. During his tenure, the Bluejays won six MVC regular season or tournament titles, earned nine consecutive NCAA Championships bids, and advanced to one College Cup. Mims got his collegiate coaching start under Warming at Saint Louis in 2000.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Mims played soccer collegiately at Saint Louis University, where he was a two-time All-Conference USA selection and an NSCAA All-Midwest Region pick in 1997. Mims also played professionally for one season with Cincinnati Riverhawks of the A-League. He graduated from Saint Louis in 1999 with a communications degree.
What others are saying about Coach Mims:
Will Parchman – Top Drawer Soccer
Before Jason Mims, there had never been a men’s soccer head coach at Omaha because there had never been a program. Mims was tasked in 2011 with building up a Division I program from nothing, and after a stint as one of the nation’s most coveted assistants at Creighton, Mims’ job was perhaps an unenviable one. As early as 2012 Omaha was competitive in the Summit League, and by 2016 he’d taken them to previously inconceivable heights. In a conference with the aforementioned Denver, Mims became Franks’ greatest foil, winning their second Summit League regular season crown (Denver and Omaha finished level in the league at 5-0-1) and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tourney. Perhaps it’s no surprise Omaha’s become a refuge for quality players since Mims established himself as such a keen recruiter and developer at Creighton. That’s carried over to Omaha, one of the most rapid success stories in Division I.
