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Jayhawk soccer coach Mark Francis watched his
players immediately following the team’s 4-1 victory
over No. 24 Wake Forest on Aug. 31, 2014, he was
curious as to why they were acting reserved. Wins
over top-25 opponents had spurned at least a little
excitement from his teams in the past, but this time
as he gathered his unusually silent players for some
parting words, he quickly discovered the reason for the
team’s suspicious behavior. The entire team erupted
in cheers as senior Caroline Van Slambrouck and
sophomore Morgan Williams doused their coach with
a Gatorade shower, an action celebrating his 200th win
as a collegiate head coach.
While the Gatorade bath signified a very special and
monumental event in Francis’ coaching career, it wasn’t
necessarily the achievement of victory No. 200 Francis
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was relishing as he started to dry off, but more so his
18-year journey to reach that milestone.
Many former players choose to become a coach
following their playing careers, however, Francis took a
unique approach. While he coached at South Alabama,
FrancisalsocoachedandplayedfortheMobileRevelers
of the United States Interregional Soccer League in
1996, while also heading up some local club teams.
“I was coaching several teams while I was still playing,”
said Francis. “The most challenging aspect of being
a player and coach was communicating with my
teammates in the middle of a game, however I played
center-midfield, so it was a little easier to coordinate
with the team on the pitch. The most challenging thing
was how busy it got in the fall when I was involved with
two or three different teams at the same time.”
Former Francis pupil and current Jayhawk assistant
coach Jessica Smith believes this dual role molded
Francis into the successful coach that he is today.
“Coach was a very talented player and that’s helped
him,” said Smith. “It’s one thing to be a coach, but
to be a player; it allows you to see the game from a
different perspective.”
Standing right beside Francis on the sidelines the last
16 years has been associate head coach Kelly Miller.
A specialist in goalkeeping and defense, Miller has
coached successful Jayhawk goalkeepers year in and
out. Like Smith, he believes Francis’ playing experience
has led to his coaching success.
“The great things he brings are his tactics and ideas of
playing the game through the middle of the field,” said
Miller. “That’s where he played and where he has a lot
of knowledge. He would still love to be lacing the boots
up for every game.”
During the 1996 season, Francis picked up his first
collegiate win as a head coach at South Alabama
with a 9-0 blowout of Northwestern State. Despite the
lopsided victory, the rest of the season did not reflect
that game’s success as the team finished with a 2-17
record. Even with a rough debut season as a collegiate
coach, Francis made his name known among the
highest collegiate coaching circles with the job he did
the following year. The second-year coach headed the
greatest two-season turn-around in NCAA women’s
soccer history after leading the Jaguars to an 18-3-
1 record, a 16-game turnaround that has yet to be
topped to this day. The following year, after Francis
won his second Big South Championship title, he
quickly became the target of two high-profile Big 12
conference soccer programs.
In 1999, the University of Oklahoma and the University
of Kansas both made strong pushes to convince the
young coach to lead their fledgling programs. Both
schools offered him the head position the same week
and, for Francis, it was the city and the campus that
led him to Lawrence.
“I knew, as a soccer coach, what I was able to do and
what I could influence,” explained Francis. “I can’t
influence the campus and how cool the town is, and
that’s huge when recruiting. Lawrence has a great vibe
I think bringing recruits and
playing in [Rock Chalk Park] is a
game changer in so many ways.
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to it, and you want a recruit to see that. There’s a lot of
things to do, and from a recruiting standpoint, I thought
it would be easier to get a student-athlete to come
here.”
Francis, his wife, Tiffany, and their three children now
call Lawrence home and, just as he leverages the
campus and town for recruiting purposes, he and his
family also enjoy all that Lawrence has to offer. Francis
and his wife love live music, and not a week goes by
where they don’t attend a concert. The two are also
avid outdoorsmen.
“We also go to the lake quite a bit,” said Francis. “We
have a small fishing boat, kayaks, wind suffers and we
love to use them.”
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It is activities and opportunities like these that Francis
hopes will draw student-athletes to choose Kansas
as the place to play their collegiate careers.
Away from the social draws Lawrence has to offer,
Francis wasted no time in helping the Jayhawks
reach new milestones. Francis added eight wins to
his resume his first year with the Jayhawks, a school
record at the time. Two years later, the team made the
NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history
and, now Francis has officially brought the Jayhawks
into the national limelight. Under Francis the Jayhawks
have tallied 10 10-win seasons, five NCAA Tournament
appearances and numerous weeks ranked in the top-
25.
MillerattributesthissuccesstothestyleofplayFrancis
teaches and instills in his players.
“I think 200 wins is quite remarkable, because in
college, with its unique substitution rule, sometimes
you get more of a direct style of play with coaches
running large numbers of players in,” Miller said.
“It is an easy way to get a win, but Coach plays a
possession style. For one thing, it makes the players
better; we have a lot of players who go on to play in
the professional ranks.”
Through Francis’ guidance at Kansas, 49 Jayhawks
have garnered all-conference honors, and five of these
have been named All-Americans.
One of Francis’ fondest memories is when he led the
Jayhawks to the program’s first Big 12 Championship.
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the
Jayhawks’ first conference title and, looking back
now, Francis recalls the team that gave him one of his
most memorable wins of his career.
“We went into the last game of the season having to
win that game to win the conference,” said Francis.
“It was pretty cool for the players. We knew we had a
good chance to win and we did.”
On Oct. 29, 2004 the Jayhawks defeated the Cyclones
of Iowa State, 4-0, to secure the Big 12 Conference
crown.
Francis has numerous memories just like that one
from his first 18 years of coaching, but he believes the
coming years will create some of the best moments
yet for Kansas soccer. With the opening of Rock Chalk
Park, the Jayhawks’ new multi-million dollar facility in
west Lawrence, Francis expects the program to take
giant leaps forward on several fronts.
“Since I’ve been here the only thing I think we didn’t
have in place was a facility to recruit to, and now we
have that,” said Francis. “I think bringing recruits and
playing in [Rock Chalk Park] is a game changer in so
many ways. It says that [we, The University of Kansas
and its Athletic Department] are committed to soccer.”
That commitment to the soccer program is exhibited
all the way to the top of the Kansas Athletics ladder,
and embodied by the Director of Athletics Dr. Sheahon
Zenger.Asaformercoachhimself,Zengerappreciates
the continuity and perseverance it takes to reach the
win totals that Francis has attained.
“Milestones like this are special to any coach; Coach
Francis is no different,” said Zenger. “This season the
team has gotten off to a hot start and achieving this
mark adds to the excitement surrounding the Jayhawk
soccer program.”
With an undefeated start to the season, a new facility
and the additions of career coaching wins 201 and 202
Francis has no intention of stepping off the gas pedal.
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“Ultimately, every coach wants to reach the Final
Four and win a National Championship,” concluded
Francis. “We are not there yet, but with this new
facility, the current group we have and some of the
recruiting classes coming in over the next couple
years,ourexpectationwillbetogodeepintotheNCAA
Tournament and maybe we will bring a national title
to Lawrence.”
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