Clint Schneider took over as head coach of the Simon Fraser University men’s soccer program on February 10, 2015 after spending five seasons as the lead assistant for Alan Koch.
Since then, the Red Leafs have won 83 games, lost 25 and tied 13 (.740 winning percentage) overall. SFU holds a 58-16-10 record (.750) in Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests with Schneider as head coach. He is the GNAC leader in career winning percentage and team titles amongst the league's active coaches.
Schneider won three-consecutive GNAC team championships and GNAC Coach of the Year awards between 2016 and 2018, and qualified for the NCAA Championship tournament three straight years. The team went 17-2-0 in 2018, Schneider's best season as head coach and competed in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Schneider has been with the university since Simon Fraser University began competing in the NCAA & GNAC in the Fall of 2010. Schneider was an assistant coach on the SFU teams that went unbeaten in 2011 and made back-to-back NCAA Division II National Championship Final Four appearances in 2012 and 2013.
As the fifth head coach in the program’s history, Schneider is proud to continue to build on the tradition of success established by his predecessors.
In 2021, SFU went 9-7 (6-4 GNAC) in its return to the pitch after the 2020 campaign was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conrad Cheng earned the GNAC's Newcomer of the Year award while four players earned all-conference first or second team honours. Another three were honourable mentions. Freshman defender Simone Masi signed a professional contract with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2.
SFU compiled an 11-4-1 overall mark in 2019, with the team going 8-3-1 in GNAC play. Led by the Polisi brothers, Marcello and Matteo, SFU had five all-GNAC selections. The brothers earned a place on the D2CCA All-West Region Team, before United Soccer Coaches placed Matteo on its Second All-America Team.
In his first season at the helm, the SFU men's coccer team finished with a 10-3-4 overall record, 9-2-3 in GNAC action, but narrowly missed out on an invitation to the NCAA postseason tournament. SFU was an impressive 7-0-1 on Terry Fox Field and the team did not surrender a single goal to its opponents all season long on home turf. Seven players received GNAC honours, highlighted by Adam Jones’ Freshman of the Year nod. Jones started all 17 games during the 2015 season and led the team with eight goals (three game-winners) and six assists for 22 points, an effort that earned him a spot on the D2 CCA West Region second team as well. Joining Adam Jones on the All-GNAC first team was his brother Kyle Jones and Mamadi Camara. In addition, Michael North and Brandon Watson took home All-Conference second team honours while Robert Hyams and Pascal Schmidt were named All-Conference Honourable Mentions. Schmidt was also co-winner of the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award.
As the preseason favourite to win the GNAC title in 2016, Schneider’s squad did not disappoint as SFU compiled a 14-1-3 record on the season, 9-1-2 in conference play. SFU started the season with an eight-game win streak and was undefeated until the second last game of the regular season. The team was top-10 in the nation for most of the campaign and was the undisputed number one seed in the West Region heading into the NCAA Championship. Simon Fraser suffered a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the regional tournament, falling in penalty kicks after a scoreless game to Cal Poly Pomona.
In recognition of the squad’s outstanding 2016 season, Schneider was named GNAC Coach of the Year while the players received many recognitions. Adam Jones’ 10 goals and nine assists over the campaign earned him GNAC and D2 CCA West Region Player of the Year titles. Jones was also named to the All-GNAC first team, D2 CCA and NSCAA All-Region first team, and the D2 CCA Division II All-American first team. Defender Magnus Kristensen earned GNAC Defensive Player of the Year honour and joined Jones on the All-Conference first team, D2 CCA and NSCAA All-Region first team, and was a D2 CCA second team All-American. In addition, Riley Pang was chosen as the GNAC Freshman of the Year and an All-Conference honourable mention alongside Robert Hyams. To round out the list, Ryan Dhillon, Mamadi Camara and Brandon Watson were selected to the All-GNAC first team and given D2 CCA/NSCAA All-West Region nods while Kyle Jones and Pascal Schmidt joined the All-Conference second team.
Schneider guided SFU to GNAC championships in 2017 and 2018 and to berths in the NCAA tournament each year.
A native of San Angelo, Texas, Schneider began his coaching career as an assistant coach at The Darlington School Soccer Academy in Georgia in 2005. He then teamed-up with Koch at Baker University (NAIA) in Kansas from 2007 and 2008, and served as an assistant coach at Southwestern University (NCAA Div. III) in 2009 before joining SFU.
Schneider has head coaching experience with the Okanagan Challenge in the Pacific Coast Soccer League. In 2009, under his leadership, the Challenge won the regular season title, the post-season title and the John F. Kennedy Cup – a tournament between the best British Columbia, Washington State and Oregon men's soccer teams.
Schneider holds a NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, a USSF "D" License, a NSCAA Advanced National Goalkeeper Diploma and a CSA Provincial Goalkeeper Diploma.
As a player, Schneider was a goalkeeper at Midwestern State University (NCAA Div. II) in Texas from 2001 to 2003. He graduated from Angelo State with a Bachelor’s degree and obtained his Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Baker University in 2008.
During Schneider's tenure as head coach of Simon Fraser University, the team has accumulated many accolades including:
-83 GNAC All-Conference selections
-35 All-Region selections
-21 All-Americans
-2 Major League Soccer Draftees
Year-by-year record
2021: 9-7-0 (6-4 GNAC)
2020: opted out of competition because of COVID-19
2019: 11-4-1 (8-3-1 GNAC)
2018: 17-2-0 (11-1-0 GNAC) - GNAC champions
2017: 11-3-4 (7-2-3 GNAC) - GNAC champions
2016: 14-1-3 (9-1-2 GNAC) - GNAC champions
2015: 10-3-4 (9-2-3 GNAC)
