James Madison men’s soccer Head Coach Paul Zazenski signed a contract extension that would keep him at the helm of the program through the 2026 season, as announced by Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne on October 17, 2022. 

The Dukes have seen team and individual success under the tutelage of Zazenski during his tenure, as the program has won a trio of conference championships, multiple major awards and all-conference accolades earned by individuals and four Major League Soccer Draft picks.

A return to the NCAA tournament was in store for the Dukes in Zazenski's sixth season. The Dukes finished with a 10-5-5 record and made the program's fifth ever appearance in the round of 16 of the NCAA Championship. The Dukes took down No. 1 UCF on the road to end the regular season and toppled No. 3 Georgetown in Washington, D.C. in the second round of the tournament. JMU was ranked 18th in the final poll of the season, but were ranked as high as eighth in the United Soccer Coaches for its highest ranking since 1997. Under his tutelage, the Dukes had their first Freshman All-American as Luca Nikolai was named one by TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News. Clay Obara and Rodrigo Robles were tabbed All-Region by United Soccer Coaches while all three were joined by Kevin Larsson as All-Sun Belt selections.

Zazenski's fifth season leading the Dukes came in JMU's first season in the Sun Belt Conference, where they faired 8-8-4 overall. Despite earning a seven-seed in the conference tournament, the Dukes avenged both regular season losses to Marshall and Georgia State in the quarter and semifinal rounds to make it to the conference championship match. The Dukes won or drew in eight of their nine final matches leading to the championship appearance, with the win against Marshall in the quarterfinals the program's first top-five win since 2019. Alex Krakowiak earned All-Conference Second Team honors, while Tyler Clegg was selected to the All-Southeast Region Third Team.

In his fourth season, Zazenski led the Dukes to one of their best starts to the season since 2004 before finishing 11-5-1 and third in the standings in the CAA with a 5-3 record in league play. The Dukes received votes or were ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll every week except for one, being ranked as high as 15th in the country. They were awarded with six players named to the All-Conference Team, with three placed on the First Team.

The Dukes were ineligible for postseason play in the fall due to conference realignment.

Zazenski's third year at the helm was during a shortened spring 2021 season, earning his second CAA Coach of the Year honor as he guided the Dukes to a 5-1-3 overall record and 4-0 in CAA play, becoming the third season in program history where the Dukes never lost or tied a conference game. The Dukes took their regular season conference play into the playoffs, winning their third consecutive conference title and making their 15th NCAA Tournament appearance.

Zazenski and his staff earned Atlantic Region Staff of the Year honors from United Soccer Coaches for the second time in three years, as the team either received votes or were included in the top 25 in every Coaches poll during the spring. The Dukes were ranked as high as seventh in the nation in the national weekly polls.

Under Zazenski, the Dukes received Defender and Rookie of the Year honors from the CAA, and had seven players on All-Conference teams. They earned success across the state of Virginia as well, having earned Defensive Player and Rookie of the Year honors and placing five on All-State teams. From the tutelage of Zazenski, JMU saw two players drafted in the MLS SuperDraft for the first time ever.

In his second season at the helm of the Dukes, Zazenski guided JMU to another 11-win season, winning the program's seventh CAA championship. The Dukes went on to host a first round match of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The match at Sentara Park was the first for the venue and was the first time that JMU hosted Men's Soccer NCAA Tournament matches since 2011. 

In his first year at the helm, Zazenski was named the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year after leading his team to the 2018 regular-season title and the program’s sixth CAA championship. The Dukes went on to play in the 2018 NCAA Championship where they reached the Quarterfinals for the first time since 1995. 

Zazenski and his staff were named the Regional Staff of the Year for the Atlantic region by United Soccer Coaches while five student-athletes earned All-Atlantic Region honors after posting a 15-5-3 overall record in the 2018 campaign. Fifteen wins on the season inks Zazenski in the record book as the winningest first-year coach in JMU men’s soccer history. He was also named the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Coach of the Year and the VaSID Coach of the Year.

Under Zazenski’s leadership, JMU made it in to the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time since 2011, earning a spot at No. 25 on October 23. The Dukes were recognized in the poll for six straight weeks. Following a stellar year, James Madison finished the season ranked No. 8 in Top Drawer Soccer, No. 9 in College Soccer News and No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches Polls. 

The Dukes won their second consecutive regular-season title after going 6-2 in conference action this season. Zazenski headlined the CAA postseason honors as JMU snagged a program-record ten awards while nine student-athletes were All-CAA Team selections. 

Before being named head coach on August 8, 2018, he had been the associate head coach and an assistant coach of JMU men's soccer since the 2015 season, coordinating aspects of both program operations and player development. In 2017, Zazenski helped the Dukes to a 9-7-3 overall record and 5-1-2 in CAA play to take the regular-season conference championship. JMU captured a program-record eight players on the All-CAA teams, headlined by Manuel Ferriol earning a spot on the First Team. 

Zazenski came from the University of Great Falls (Providence) where he had served as the head men's soccer coach for the past five seasons and earned an impressive 70-23-4 record. He has led the team to four conference championships, two NAIA National Tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011 where his team advanced to the Sweet 16 both times. He was recognized as the conference Coach of the Year three times, including this past season, and was named NAIA Regional Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year Finalist in 2010 after a 16-4-1 record. His teams have been ranked in the NAIA Top 25 during four seasons while also coaching at least one NAIA All-American in each of those four seasons. His teams also were successful in the classroom, sporting a cumulative team GPA of at least 3.2 for the past four years and ranking as the top NAIA school with nine Academic All-Americans in 2014.

In addition to his college duties, Zazenski spent six years as the head coach of the Montana United Showcase U16 and U19 teams that developed players from all over the state. He also worked as the Electric City Soccer Club Director of Coaching from 2011-2013.

Prior to his time as head coach at Great Falls, Zazenski served as the top assistant with the program, with specific duties regarding goalkeeper coaching and recruiting. Prior to that, he spent three years as a high school soccer coach at Southwest Guilford High School in Jamestown, North Carolina.

Zazenski holds multiple coaching licenses with United Soccer Coaches and the USSF. Zazenski played four years of college soccer at UNC Greensboro from 2002-05, helping the Spartans to a pair of Southern Conference championships and back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.

He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise, sports and science from UNC Greensboro in 2005 and finished his master's in organizational development with a management concentration in 2013 from Great Falls. He and his wife, Donna, have two sons, Calen and Davis, and a daughter, Cora.

The Paul Zazenski File

Alma Mater

UNC Greensboro '05, Great Falls '13

Wife

Donna

Children

Calen, Davis and Cora

Coaching Experience

2010-2014

Head Coach, University of Great Falls (NAIA)

2015-2018

Assistant Coach, James Madison

2018-present

Head Coach, James Madison

Playing Experience

2002-2005

Letterwinner at UNC Greensboro

Two-time SoCon Champion

Back-to-back NCAA Third Round appearances

Coaching Awards

2010

Frontier Conference Coach of the Year

Region Coach of the Year

2011

Frontier Conference Coach of the Year

2014

Frontier Conference Coach of the Year

2018

CAA Coach of the Year

ECAC Coach of the Year

VaSID Coach of the Year

Atlantic Region Staff of the Year

2020-21

CAA Coach of the Year

Atlantic Region Staff of the Year

Zazenski Year-by-Year

All-Time Record

130-54-23 (.684) - 11 seasons

2010

16-4-1 | Frontier Conference Tournament Champions, NAIA Tournament Sweet 16

2011

16-5 | Frontier Conference Regular Season & Tournament Champions, NAIA Tourament Sweet 16

2012

11-4-2

2013

10-7-1 | Frontier Conference Regular Season Champions

2014

17-3 | Frontier Conference Regular Season Champions

University of Great Falls Record

70-23-4 (.742) - 5 seasons

2018

15-5-3 | CAA Regular Season & Tournament Champions, NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals

2019

11-7-3 | CAA Tournament Champions, NCAA Tournament First Round

2020-21

5-1-3 | CAA South Division Regular Season Champions, CAA Tournament Champions, NCAA Tournament Second Round

2021

11-5-1 | Barred from postseason play due to conference realignment

2022

8-8-4 | Sun Belt Conference championship game appearance

2023

10-5-5 | Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals, NCAA Tournament Round of 16

JMU Record

60-31-19 (.632) - 6 seasons

Zazenski Postseason, Team and Player Awards as a Head Coach

United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award

1 (2023)

CAA Championships

3 (2018, 2019, 2020-21)

NCAA Championship Berths

4 (2018, 2019, 2020-21, 2023)

Frontier Conference Championships

2 (2010, 2011)

NAIA Championship Berths

2 (2010, 2011)

National Top-25 Rankings

3 (10th in 2018, 21st in 2020-21, 18th in 2023)

NCAA All-Americans 

3

NAIA All-Americans

4

NCAA Freshman All-Americans

1

MAC Hermann Trophy Award Semifinalists

1

NCAA All-Region Selections

16

NAIA All-Region Selections

7

Sun Belt All-Conference Selections 

5

CAA All-Conference Selections 

26

CAA All-Rookie Selections

4

CAA Player of the Year

2 (1 player, 1 defensive)

CAA Rookie of the Year

1

All-Frontier Conference Selections

25

Frontier Conference Academic All-Conference Selections

54

Frontier Conference Player of the Year

3

VaSID All-State Selections

26

VaSID Player of the Year

3 (1 player, 2 defensive)

VaSID Rookie of the Year

2

ECAC All-Stars

2

ECAC Player of the Year

1