March 27, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s soccer head coach Bobby Clark has announced the hiring of Jamie Clark as the newest assistant coach on the Fighting Irish staff. Jamie has spent the past four seasons as an assistant at the University of New Mexico, where he was part of the staff that guided the Lobos to the title game of the 2005 College Cup.
While at New Mexico under head coach Jeremy Fishbein, Clark helped take the program to new heights, which included the first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament in 2001. The Lobos would then make it to the finals of the College Cup just four years later in 2005. New Mexico registered an 18-2-3 mark in 2005 to tie the school record for wins in a single season. During his four years in Albuquerque, the Lobos combined to post a record of 61-16-8. In the four years before his arrival, the team recorded a 32-40-4 mark.
“Jamie comes from a program that has grown a lot over the past four years,” says Bobby Clark. “He was very lucky to work with Jeremy Fishbein at New Mexico. They’ve made the (NCAA) tournament three out of the past four years, which is something I don’t think they had done prior to that. They also led the nation in attendance this past season. So he’s coming from a program that has gone from nowhere and went to the very top of the tree. To get someone like that to come in should be a great boost for our program.”
Clark is a 1999 graduate of Stanford, where he was a two-time All-American. He began his college career at North Carolina before transferring to Stanford following his freshman season. In 1998, he became the first NSCAA first-team All-American in the history of Cardinal soccer as he helped lead the squad to the first NCAA Final Four appearance in program history. Clark was also a second-team All-American in 1997.
Prior to Clark’s arrival at New Mexico, he played three seasons with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. He was drafted out of Stanford as the 21st pick overall in the 1999 MLS Draft.
“I’m very glad to join Notre Dame and reunite with my father,” states Jamie Clark, the youngest son of Bobby. “I enjoyed playing for him at Stanford and now I hope to duplicate that success as an assistant. It’s incredible to now be a part of the storied tradition at Notre Dame. As a soccer program, Notre Dame is a top 10 to 15 team in the country. I hope to help them clear that one last hurdle and bring a championship to South Bend.”
Clark will join former Irish standout and St. John’s assistant coach Chad Riley, who was hired earlier this month, on the Fighting Irish staff. The duo replaces former associate head coach Brian Wiese, who left to take over as head coach at Georgetown, and assistant Mike Avery as he departed to become the top assistant coach at Louisville.
“Just like Chad Riley, Jamie comes from a very, very strong program,” says Bobby Clark. “They’ll be able to look at our program from a slightly different point of view. I hope that they both can bring something different that can help us.”
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