PUEBLO, Colo. (April 1, 2024) – Following a national search for new leader of its women's soccer program, Colorado State University Pueblo Vice President of Athletics and Strategic Partnerships Dr. Paul Plinske has named John Constable as the ThunderWolves new coach.
 
Constable, who began his duties at CSU Pueblo on April 1, comes to the Centennial State after spending the past four seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division I Jacksonville University. In his time with the Dolphins, he led the program to a 17-34-13 record, which included the program's first winning season in a decade in 2022 when the program went 6-5-5. Prior to Constable's arrival, the Jacksonville program had won a combined 10 games over a four-year span from 2016-19, including posting an 0-13-3 record in 2019.
 
"John was an instant 'that's our guy' candidate. His personality is positive, energized and endearing. He makes you feel like you've known him for years. His track record speaks for itself and I'm incredibly excited to get him to CSU Pueblo to work with this group of women, be an active part of our athletic department and become a strong Pueblo citizen," Dr. Plinske said. "On behalf of CSU Pueblo Athletics, I would like to welcome John, his wife Sarah and son Henrik to the Pack family. We are incredibly grateful for his interest and commitment to Developing Champions."
 
The search and screen committee, which was led by Dr. Krista Bridgmon, who is CSU Pueblo's Faculty Athletic Advisor and committee members Oliver Twelvetress and Erin Stresow-Carilllo analyzed the credentials of 70 applicants that were received for the position and then narrowed the candidate pool to a list of eight finalists with three of those candidates coming on campus for final interviews.
 
"I'm incredibly grateful for the search and screen committee, led by Dr. Bridgmon. As a former Division I soccer player, she knew what to look for in the ideal candidate. She worked tirelessly to analyze the credentials of our 70 applicants. Her leadership style connected very well with Coach Twelvetrees, who spent numerous hours leaning about each candidate, which helped us navigate this process more efficiently. I am proud of this search and screen committee and I'm excited about the outcome," Dr. Plinske added about the search and screen committee.
 
When asked about the search process, Dr. Plinske said we had a deep and talented pool of candidates for the position, and we could've interviewed more than our top eight candidates.
 
"We focused our attention on the candidates we felt would be the best fit for CSU Pueblo women's soccer right now. Our team has made tremendous progress since the fall and this search process is an example of our tedious work to make sure we found a candidate to become engrossed in our team culture and help us take the next steps in our short and long-term development."
 
One of new things that Dr. Plinske tried with the hiring of a new women's soccer coach was to involve the student-athletes in the search and screen process. All three of the final candidates that came to campus had breakfast with the student-athletes.
 
"I have never engaged student-athletes in the search and screen process before and it was enlightening to hear their perspectives throughout the on-campus interviews. They were open-minded, conscientious, and thoughtful. I know they are ready to embark on a strong spring season and come back to campus for an outstanding fall campaign," Dr. Plinske said.
 
Constable brings 17 years of coaching experience to CSU Pueblo, including 13 years as a collegiate head coach. He has compiled a 116-95-27 head coaching record at three different schools – two at the NCAA Division II level and one at the NCAA Division I level.
 
"I am delighted to be taking over as head women's soccer coach at CSU Pueblo.  I will be forever grateful to Dr. (Paul) Plinske for giving me this opportunity. Together, with the help of the fine young ladies on the program and its staff, CSU Pueblo women's soccer will progress from strength to strength, in the classroom, in the community and on the field," Constable said. "It became apparent instantly when I arrived on campus for my interview, that CSU Pueblo is a first-class university and has a first-class athletic program to match. I am excited to get to work as we go all out to improve the program every year." 
 
At Jacksonville, Constable, who won 17 games over a four-year period with the Dolphins, took over a program in March 2020 that had not won a game in 22 games and in the fall of 2021, he led the team to its most wins since 2014. He also led the program to its first winning season since 2013 and its first ASUN Tournament for the first time in five seasons in 2022. He also helped the program maintain and team GPA of 3.3 or higher and a 990 4-year APR or higher. The 2022 team also achieved its longest unbeaten streak to a season in program history.
 
Prior to being named the head coach at Jacksonville, Constable spent five seasons as the head coach at Nova Southeastern University, which is an NCAA Division II school in Davie, Fla., that is a member of the Sunshine State Conference. During his time with the Sharks, Constable led team to five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2015-19) and brought home the first NCAA Regional Championship title in program history during the 2019 season.

Constable assumed his position at Nova Southeastern in 2015 and inherited a team that ranked seventh in the Sunshine State Conference the previous year. Since taking over the program the Sharks have ranked consistently in the top three in the league while making five-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). In the 2019 season the Sharks posed a 17-4-2 record while going unbeaten at the NSU Soccer Complex.

The Sharks captured their first-ever SSC regular season championship in 2017 under the direction of Constable, who was then named the 2017 SSC Coach of the Year. NSU also reached the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year, and advanced to the second round for the first time in program history. Constable guided the team to its highest-ever national ranking of seventh. That 2017 team could boast the SSC Freshman of the Year and earned the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
 
While overseeing the Shark's academic progress, Nova Southeastern boasted a team GPA consistently above 3.2 while earning Academic All-District honors two years in-a-row. The 2018 Fall Commissioner's Honor Roll for the Sunshine State Conference honored 20 student-athletes from the women's soccer program.

Along with his coaching and academic oversight duties Constable devoted himself to the Davie, Fla. community as well. He organized and managed numerous community outreach programs while fundraising over $5,000 annually. Under his direction the NSU Soccer Camp grew to be one of the most prominent in the southern Florida region.

Prior to his time at NSU, Constable was the head coach at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C., leading the Valkyries to their first regular season Conference Championship in 2014, their first regional ranking and a conference semifinal appearance in the Conference Carolinas Tournament. He was a two-time Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year (2012, 2014). He mentored an All-Region performer, seven All-Conference players and eight Academic All-Conference student-athletes.

After finishing 2-15-1 and 1-8-1 for the 2011 season and starting the 2014 season as a No. 7 preseason conference selection, he helped the program improve tremendously to a 15-3-1 overall record and an impressive 9-1-1 in conference play. The Valkyries went on a 12-game win streak, a program best, to clinch the conference regular season title and advance to the conference semifinal round.

Prior to Converse College, Constable spent four years as an assistant coach at Delta State University. During his time at DSU he helped coach both the men's and women's programs as well as the junior varsity program. In 2008, he helped guide the Lady Statesmen to a 10-7-2 overall record and appeared in the Gulf South Conference tournament for the first time in program history.

Constable spent his collegiate career playing Division II soccer at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn. and Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Penn. While at Tusculum, he was a member of the No. 1 ranked team in Division II that advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

In addition to his collegiate playing experience, Constable played professionally for the Scottish Professional Premier League team, Motherwell Football Club for three years.
 
A 2007 graduate of Seton Hill University, Constable earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and went on to complete his MBA in Management from Delta State University in 2009.