James Jenkins

2024:

In 2024, Jenkins led the team on a historic season making it to the Crossroads League Tournament Championship for the first time since 2005 as well as made it to the NAIA National Championship Second Round for the first time in program history.

The Knights finished at No. 21 in the final NAIA Coaches Poll of the season which is the highest the program has ever finished. Jenkins led the team to a 14-5-3 overall record ending with a 5-2-2 record in the Crossroads League which is the highest program record since the 2006 season.

Jenkins team claimed the most NAIA Scholar Athlete Awards in program history with 22 honorees. Jenkins helped guide Kyle Alb to a CSC Academic All-American Second Team claiming the first Second Team honor in program history as well as only the second CSC Academic All-American honor in program history. The Knights were also led to claim four CSC Academic All-District honors which is the most in program history.

Jenkins helped guide three players to All-Crossroads League First Team honors as well as two players an Honorable Mention honor which tied the 2006 team for most honors in program history.

2023:

Jenkins led the team to a 12-5-2 overall record ending with a 5-4 record in the Crossroads League. The Knights made it to the Crossroads League tournament beating out No. 20 Indiana Wesleyan 3-2 in the CL Tournament Quarterfinals and ended the season with a 1-3 loss against No. 9 Bethel in the CL Tournament Semifinals.

Jenkins team claimed 12 NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards and four first time All-Crossroads League awards, three claiming honorable mention and one claiming first team honors.

Jenkins returned to Marian to serve as the assistant head coach under Mark Castro in January of 2023. On May 3rd, Jenkins was elevated to he Interim Head Coach role for the men's soccer program and was later named the Head Coach for the 2023 season.

Previous Experience:

He spent 2022 as an assistant coach at Depaw University where he ran training sessions and recruiting operations fr the Tigers, and played a role in their 6-7-5 campaign.

He has coached at the club level, serving as the head coach for Dynamo FC Soccer Club in Indianapolis. Jenkins primarily coached the Dynamo U9 and U15 club teams, helping develop players for their next level.

He is a 2021 graduate of Marian University where he played two seasons for the Knights, leading the team in each of his two years. He was a two-year team captain, and scored 22 goals which included the game-winning score in four different games. Jenkins was a two-time All-Crossroads League player, and in his final season of play, Jenkins was named the Crossroads League Offensive Player of the Year. In his senior season, Jenkins played an instrumental role in helping the Knights reach the CL Tournament Semifinals, while playing in and hosting the first Crossroads League Tournament game in over a decade for the Marian Men's Soccer team.

In addition to his accolades as a player at Marian, Jenkins was also a three-year varsity player for UIndy, helping their men's soccer program reach the NCAA DII Super Region twice.