Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, IL 61702

Illinois Midwest

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Coaches

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Oz Bakirdan

The 2023 season marks the second at the helm of the Titans for Oz Bakirdan, who was hired as IWU's sixth head coach in March of 2022.

Bakirdan took over ICC’s club program in 1998 before turning it into a NJCAA Division I power. A 10-time NJCAA Region 24 Coach of the year, Bakirdan led his men’s teams to the national tournament eight times. ICC won 10 Midwest Athletic Conference Championships, including in 2021, under his leadership, while also claiming the Region 24 title 12 times. Additionally, he was named the Central District Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2019.

Throughout his time at ICC, the Cougars were a staple in the NJCAA Division I national rankings. His squads were ranked consistently over his past seven seasons at the helm, reaching as high as third in the nation in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2019.

Bakirdan led ICC’s women’s team during the 2019 season, turning around a program that had struggled previously. He guided the team to its first winning record in six years, which included a MWAC Championship.

In addition to leading ICC, Bakirdan has worked in the local club circuit since 2012. He served as President of the Morton Blaze Soccer Club from 2012 to 2015, before moving into a Director of Coaching role with Morton Premier Soccer Club from 2016 to 2020. Most recently, he has served as the Director of Coaching for the Morton United Football Club. There, he led his 2009 girls squad to No. 1 in the state.

Bakirdan graduated with a degree in business administration from Bradley University in 1998.

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Kyle Schauls

Kyle Schauls, a former goalkeeper at Division III Wartburg College and assistant coach at Division I Western Michigan, was named the men’s head soccer coach at Illinois Wesleyan University on July 7, 2014.

In his nine seasons his teams have compiled an overall record of 68-66-9 (.507) with a mark of 34-31-1 (.523) in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Schauls led the Titans to the second consecutive CCIW Tournament appearance of his career in 2017. The Titans had their best record thus far under Schauls at 11-6-1 that same season.

In 2013 Schauls was an assistant coach at the University of Rochester with a team that finished 15-3-2, went 10-0-1 at home, won the University Athletic Association championship and lost 1-0 to Montclair State in the round of 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament.

From 2010 to 2012 Schauls was an assistant at Western Michigan, where teams were a combined 27-26-7 and were regular contenders at the top of the Mid-American Conference. The WMU 2012 team posted an 11-6-2 record, spent 12 straight weeks in the top 10 of the NSCAA Great Lakes Regional rankings, and received votes for the national top 25 for three weeks during the season.

Schauls worked closely with the Bronco goalkeeping unit, which posted a .91 GAA on the season, the Broncos’ lowest mark since 1989. His other responsibilities included overseeing the areas of compliance, recruiting, travel, academics, equipment, video analysis, camps, community outreach, and scouting.

In 2011, WMU made its second straight appearance in the Mid-American Conference championship game as the Broncos ousted defending national champion Akron in the semifinals. WMU also posted a signature regular-season win over in-state rival Michigan, beating the Wolverines for the first time ever in Ann Arbor.

Schauls’ previous coaching experience includes four seasons (2007-10) as the varsity assistant at West High School in Waterloo, Iowa, where he participated in all phases of coaching and specialized in goalkeeper instruction and training. West High produced an all-conference goalkeeper in both 2008 and 2009, and Schauls was a member of the 2009 Mississippi Valley Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. He has also coached at the No. 1 Soccer Camps in Fulton, Mo., and Kenosha, Wis. Additionally, he founded the Cedar Valley Goalkeeper Camp for youth goalies in Waterloo, Iowa.

At Wartburg, Schauls was a goalkeeper and a member of three consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament qualifying teams. He was also an Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference selection in his senior season.

Schauls earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Wartburg in 2010 and a master’s degree in sport management from Western Michigan in 2012. He has earned both the National Coaching Diploma and National Goalkeeping Diploma from the NSCAA.

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Chad Jones

Chad Jones enters his first season as an assistant under Kyle Schauls in 2023, marking his second stint with the Titans.

Jones, a 1994 graduate and four-year letterman at College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin member institution Millikin University, comes to IWU with extensive coaching experiences across all NCAA divisions.

Jones served as the head men’s soccer coach at his alma mater from 2011-2019, where he was named the CCIW Coach of the Year in 2014. He later transitioned to the Senior Admissions Counselor from 2019-2021 at Millikin. In 2021, Jones began working as a teaching assistant and behavioral specialist at Montessori Academy for Peace in Decatur.

Following his graduation from Millikin, Jones coached the men’s and women’s varsity soccer programs at Douglas MacArthur High School for five years before returning to Millikin for one year as an assistant coach where he helped the Big Blue to their first-ever CCIW Championship in 2001.

Jones spent six years as the Director of Soccer at Midstate Soccer Club and Academy before taking an assistant coaching position at Eastern Illinois University from 2002-2007. He has served as the Executive Director of Soccer at the Springfield Area Soccer Association and continues his role as an Olympic Development Staff Coach, where he assists in the state team selection process and is responsible for player evaluations. Jones also yielded year-long stints as the head men’s soccer coach at the University of Illinois-Springfield (NCAA Division II), and an assistant coach at Illinois Wesleyan where he was the goalkeepers coach.