FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Jake Essig has been named the University of Saint Francis head men’s soccer coach, Director of Athletics Mike McCaffrey has announced. Essig replaces Mitch Ellisen, who retired after leading the program for the past 21 seasons.
Essig comes to USF after spending the last six seasons as the full-time assistant men’s soccer coach for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. During that time, the Fightin’ Engineers compiled an overall record of 76-26-17. Team accomplishments include 2014, 2015, 2015, 2016, 2019 HCAC regular-season titles; 2014 and 2015 HCAC tournament titles; and national rankings as high as No. 18. Individual team accomplishments include 44 HCAC All-Conference selections, 16 All-Region selections, 4 HCAC Defensive Most Valuable Players, two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, two United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Americans, one HCAC Offensive MVP and one HCAC Freshmen MVP.
“We had over 50 applicants for this position and Coach Essig separated himself from the field during his interview on campus,” McCaffrey said. “The drive and passion that he displayed, the vision and goals for the program that he outlined, combined with the feedback from our current student-athletes, it was clear to see that we had the right person to join USF Athletics. We are thankful for Jake and his family agreeing to become the next head coach and join our USF family.”
Essig earned a bachelor’s degree in Recreation Management from Huntington University and completed a master’s degree in Coaching from Indiana State University. During his stint at ISU, he was named Graduate Student of the Year. He also holds a United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, an Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma and a Sport Performance Coaching License from USA Weightlifting. He is also a registered athletic administrator through the Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
“I am humbled for this opportunity to lead the University of Saint Francis men’s soccer program,” Essig said. “Our primary purpose is to develop young men from where they are to where they need to be, in a faith-centered environment through commitment, honesty, effort and respect. We will use the illustration of a bridge connecting two points together as a way to remind ourselves of the importance of developing human beings from where they are to where they need to be. Soccer is simply a platform to help these young men develop important qualities and characteristics during and after their time at USF.
“It is important to me that I recognize my wife, family and friends as they have been instrumental to me in this process. I am fortunate to have an extremely supportive network around me. Secondly, I would like to thank the Rose-Hulman athletic department, all of the student-athletes and head coach Sean Helliwell for taking a chance on me as a young assistant coach. Lastly, I would like to thank the Saint Francis search committee, especially Mike McCaffrey, for entrusting me to lead this program moving forward.”
Past players, families, and supporters of the program are encouraged to reach out to Coach Essig. “It is my goal to welcome anyone into this program that has the current players’ best interests in mind,” Essig said.
Essig can be contacted at jessig@sf.edu or 260-399-7700, ext. 6206.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 70 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the School of Health Sciences, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership and School of Creative Arts. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the university’s business and music technology programs while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The University of Saint Francis campus experience includes 16 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships and is recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.