GALLOWAY–Richard Stockton head men's soccer coach Jeff Haines will retire from coaching at the conclusion of the 2014 season after 17 years at the helm of the Osprey program. Haines will transition into an administrative role as an assistant athletic director at Stockton. He is one of the most successful Division III coaches in the sport, entering the current season ranked 26th among active coaches and 35th all-time in winning percentage (.710) as well as 37th among active coaches in wins (257).
"I can't reiterate enough how difficult of a decision this was for me. It took me awhile to figure out if this was something that I wanted to do. I knew I wasn't going to be able to coach for 25 or 30 years because I put too much heart and emotion and passion into it, and to sustain that for 25-30 years is hard," Haines said. "The other thing is that it will give me a chance to see my girls play soccer."
Haines steered the Stockton program to the 2001 NCAA championship, which is the College's only team national title in any sport, two years after taking the Ospreys to their first NCAA Final Four in his second season of 1999. Stockton's four NJAC crowns ('99, '01, '02, '04) during Haines' tenure equal Montclair State for the most during that time span. He has led the Ospreys to seven NCAA Tournament berths ('98, '99, '01, '02, '04, '08, '10) plus three ECAC championships as well ('00, '05, '13).
"Losing a coach of Jeff Haines' caliber would be a blow to any program, but I think this move will benefit Stockton Athletics in the long run and I'm confident that we will find the right coach to inherit a program with a rich tradition," said Stockton Athletic Director Lonnie Folks of Haines' move into administration.
Haines was voted NJAC Coach of the Year and NSCAA Metro Region of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and he added the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award to his credit in 2001 after leading Stockton to an NCAA all-division record 25 victories on its march to the championship. The Ospreys narrowly missed a third Final Four trip in 2004 as they fell one game short after reaching the NCAA quarterfinals. More recently, Haines brought Stockton to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2010.
"It's difficult to sum up the 17 years. We've won a lot of games, we've gotten some really good players and good assistant coaches. I've said it from day one, I haven't scored one goal, I haven't made one save. It's been all the players and they've done a great job," said Haines. "I'm pretty happy with what we've accomplished over 17 years and now it's someone else's turn to take over."
Haines began his head coaching career by succeeding his mentor Tim Lenahan at Stockton in 1998 after three seasons as an assistant with the program. He collected his first victory as a college head coach with a 4-1 win over Goldey Beacom in his debut on September 3, 1998. Milestones that followed included his 100th victory, a 4-0 win over Savannah Art & Design on September 13, 2003, and 200th win, a 2-1 triumph over Roanoke on September 11, 2010. Haines reached the 250-win plateau with a 3-0 shutout of Mary Washington in this season's opener.
Haines, a native of Pitman, New Jersey, is a member of the South Jersey Soccer Hall of Fame, Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame and Pitman High School Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, his 2001 Stockton team is enshrined in the Stockton Athletics Hall of Fame. Haines will be stepping away from college soccer after 28 years of involvement, four as a player at Lock Haven University, seven as an assistant coach and 17 as Stockton's head coach.