Tom Foley - Men's Soccer Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Tom Foley

Title:
Assistant Head Coach
Email:
foleytg@jmu.edu
Phone:
540-568-3369
Physical Address:
Godwin 103B (261 Bluestone Dr.) / MSC 2301

No stranger to JMU men’s soccer, Tom Foley took over as head coach of the program for the 2015 campaign, after serving 13 years on the coaching staff. Just the fourth coach in the program’s history dating back to 1968, he replaced Dr. Tom Martin, who completed his 29-year stint as the leader of the Dukes with the 2014 season.

In 2017, Foley was named CAA Coach of the Year after leading the Dukes to his career-best 9-7-3 record including a 2-0 win over then-No. 15 UNCW at Sentara Park. Foley saw a program-record eight Dukes receive All-CAA honors with Manuel Ferriol landing on the First Team. In conference, the Dukes won the regular-season title with a 5-1-2 record and did not lose home regular-season conference match all year.

The Dukes closed out the 2016 season under Foley by winning their last four games, the first four-game win streak since 2011. JMU also won five of its last six games, with three players (Callum Hill, Billy Metzler and Kyle Morton) being named to the All-CAA Third Team.

In his first season at the helm, Foley led the Dukes to the CAA Tournament semifinals and finished with a 5-10-4 record overall, highlighted by a 2-0 win over No. 17 Hofstra and a tie with No. 18 UNCW.

Foley served as an assistant coach from 1997-2003 before returning to Harrisonburg as the associate head coach in 2009. In his time with JMU, the Dukes have been nationally ranked in eight of his 12 years with the program. JMU found itself in the polls each year from 1997-2001, then was ranked again from 2009-2011. At the conclusion of the 2011 season, JMU finished No. 24 in the Soccer America poll while checking in at No. 20 in the NSCAA Coaches poll.

Along the way, Foley has coached more than 10 players who have gone on to play professionally. That list includes 2011 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year CJ Sapong.

Previously, Foley served as the head coach at Massachusetts-Lowell but did not coach a game before leaving for JMU prior to the season. In addition to his time as an assistant at JMU, Foley has also served as an assistant coach at Holy Cross (1992-93, 1996) and his alma mater, Connecticut (1994).

In 2012 when then-head coach Tom Martin had to take a medical leave of absence from JMU, Foley stepped in as the acting head coach for a handful of games while guiding the Dukes to the CAA Tournament and the program’s first victory in the tournament since 2005.

Outside of college soccer, Foley has coached in the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program in Connecticut (1994-95) and Virginia (1998). He also coached the U-15 and U-18 teams at New England Soccer School from 2005-08. Since 2007, Foley has been the director and owner of High Performance Soccer Camps/Clinics.

The Billerica, Mass., native graduated from Connecticut in 1991. As a goalkeeper for the Huskies, he participated in three NCAA Tournaments from 1987-1989. During UConn’s 1989 Big East tournament run, Foley was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player while helping the Huskies to the tournament championship. Other accolades throughout his career include being named Big East Freshman of the Year and winning Freshman All-America honors in 1987 and playing in the Senior Bowl in 1991. Along the way, Foley was named All-New England four times.

Prior to his collegiate career at Connecticut, Foley played on the U.S. Youth National Team in the Youth World Cup in Beijing, China, and in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Trinidad & Tobago. His run with the team ran from 1983-85.

Foley holds a master’s degree in sport management from Connecticut (’96) and has an NSCAA National Diploma.