Phone: (408) 924-1261
Email: gstclair@email.sjsu.edu
In 2013, Gary St. Clair heads into his 24th season as the head coach of the San Jose State University men[apos]s soccer program.
As one of only two coaches in the 85-year history of San Jose State men[apos]s soccer to reach the 100-win and then 200-win plateaus for coaching victories, legendary coach Julius Menendez is the other, St. Clair begins 2013 with a 213-198-37 record at the major college level. He is a four-time Coach of the Year honoree, twice by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), and twice by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) as the Far West[apos]s top field leader.
Over his 23 seasons at the helm of the Spartans program, St. Clair has produced two U.S. national team players, C.J. Brown and Ryan Suarez, three All-Americans, and 78 all-conference honorees. He has had 12 winning seasons, eight with double-digit victory totals.
Three times, in 1998, 2000 and 2003, St. Clair guided the Spartans into the NCAA Tournament. The 1998 team ended San Jose State[apos]s 22-year absence in the NCAA post-season. The Spartans captured the 2000 and 2003 MPSF Tournament titles and reached the final in 2002.
St. Clair[apos]s most outstanding team was the 2000 squad that set a school record for wins in a season with 20, earned a number-one national ranking in the NSCAA poll for four weeks and was the only team to finish the regular season unbeaten. San Jose State, which was ranked second and 14th that year in the final Soccer America and NSCAA polls, respectively, went 31 seasons between number-one rankings. The Spartan coach was named the MPSF Mountain Division Coach of the Year and picked up his second NSCAA/adidas Far West Coach of the Year award.
Following the 2003 season, St. Clair earned MPSF Coach of the Year recognition for the second time, as the Spartans went 12-7-2, won the MPSF Tournament and participated in the NCAA Championship.
The first Far West Coach of the Year honor of his career came at the conclusion of a 1994 campaign in which the Spartans went 15-4, for the first time reaching the double-digit wins in his five years at the hlem of the Spartan program.
THE CLASSROOM IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE FIELD
St. Clair puts a much emphasis on work in the classroom as he does on the field. Since joining the MPSF in 2000, his Spartans have earned 31 Academic All-MPSF honors. In 2008 alone, San Jose State had three athletes earn NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-West Region team recognition. In addition, Hiroki Akiyama was named a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII selection for a second straight year.
From 2007-11, 18 men[apos]s soccer players were San Jose State University Scholar-Athletes and former Spartan Nick Murphy topped all male student-athletes with the highest GPA in 2010-11. He was honored as a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII performer that same year.
Following the 2011 season, the NSCAA honored Murphy with selection to the University Division Men Scholar All-West Region Team. In addition to being honored by the NSCAA, Murphy was named a first-team Academic All-District 8 performer by CoSIDA for the second year in a row. Following the 2012 season, Murphy earned his third CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 honor and was a third-team Capital One Academic All-America.
A SPARTAN FOR LIFE
St. Clair was a two-time all-conference and three-time All-West Coast goalkeeper playing on the 1970 through 1974 Spartan teams. He still shares the school[apos]s all-time record for career shutouts with 18. The 1976 San Jose State graduate earned his master[apos]s degree from Saint Mary[apos]s College in Moraga, Calif., in 1984.
A first-round selection of the Dallas Tornado in the 1975 North American Soccer League Draft, St. Clair played for the San Jose Earthquakes in 1976 and the San Diego Jaws in 1977. Throughout the qualifying stages for the 1976 Olympics, he was the primary goalkeeper for the U.S. Olympic men[apos]s soccer team. He earned a start in Toluca, Mexico, in a final-round match-up against a Mexico side led by legendary striker Hugo Sanchez.
The native of Milpitas, Calif., holds a United States Soccer Federation National [apos]A[apos] coaching license. He and his wife, Beverly, reside in San Jose and have two adult children. Kristen has been the women[apos]s soccer head coach at NAIA California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif., since 2007. Daniel graduated from Shoreline Cavalry College with a degree in biblical studies, and from Cal Poly in December 2005, with a degree in philosophy.
In 2001, St. Clair started the San Jose State Soccer Booster Club, which has since raised over $200,000 for the Spartan men[apos]s soccer program.
St. Clair coached 13 seasons locally, seven at West Valley College and six at San Jose[apos]s Leland High School, before returning to his alma mater as head coach in 1990. Nine of those teams won league or conference titles.
The St. Clair File
Eight 10-plus win seasons and12 .500-or-better seasons
Two-time NSCAA Far West Coach of the Year
Two-time MPSF Coach of the Year
Three NCAA Championship appearances
Two MPSF Tournament championships
School record 20-1-1 season in 2000; ranked No. 1 in the country
Coached three NCAA All-Americans
One former player activecoach in theMajor League Soccer
Two former players played for the United Statesnational team
Second-highest career win total inprogram history
|
Year |
W |
L |
T |
Pct. |
|
2012 |
8 |
9 |
1 |
.472 |
|
2011 |
9 |
8 |
3 |
.525 |
|
2010 |
7 |
9 |
3 |
.447 |
|
2009 |
9 |
10 |
1 |
.475 |
|
2008 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
.611 |
|
2007 |
10 |
9 |
0 |
.526 |
|
2006 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
.417 |
|
2005 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
.658 |
|
2004 |
5 |
13 |
1 |
.289 |
|
2003 |
12 |
7 |
2 |
.619 |
|
2002 |
12 |
9 |
0 |
.571 |
|
2001 |
9 |
7 |
4 |
.550 |
|
2000 |
20 |
1 |
1 |
.932 |
|
1999 |
7 |
11 |
2 |
.389 |
|
1998 |
14 |
6 |
1 |
.700 |
|
1997 |
9 |
10 |
0 |
.474 |
|
1996 |
10 |
6 |
3 |
.625 |
|
1995 |
6 |
11 |
1 |
.353 |
|
1994 |
15 |
4 |
0 |
.789 |
|
1993 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
.563 |
|
1992 |
6 |
10 |
3 |
.375 |
|
1991 |
5 |
14 |
1 |
.293 |
|
1990 |
4 |
17 |
0 |
.190 |
|
Total |
213 |
198 |
37 |
.517 |