Coaches

Allen Vital

On Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, East Tennessee State University Athletic Director Dr. Richard Sander announced the hiring of Allen Vital as ETSU’s men’s soccer head coach.


Vital, who becomes the fifth head coach in program history, comes to Johnson City with 27 years of head coaching experience as he spent 14 years at Carson-Newman and just finished his 13th season at his alma mater, Tusculum.


“We are excited to name Allen Vital as our new men’s soccer head coach,” said Dr. Sander. “Coach Vital has had a tremendous amount of success over his 27 years as a head coach both at Carson-Newman and most recently Tusculum. He is not only well-respected in the soccer community, but he has also built a lot of strong relationships here in East Tennessee and across the region. Coach Vital has done an exceptional job with the development of youth soccer in our region and throughout the state. He coached with the East Tennessee Soccer Federation and served on the coaching staff of the Olympic Development Program for the State of Tennessee. We look forward to continued success both on the field and in the classroom for our men’s soccer program under his leadership.”


For his career, Coach Vital has combined for 12 conference regular season and conference tournament championships, while directing his teams to 10 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. Of those 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, Vital’s teams made the Sweet 16 three times and Elite Eight twice. Overall, Coach Vital has won 256 career games (118 in conference), making him the second winningest coach in South Atlantic Conference history. In addition, the 256 victories rank 15th among active NCAA Division II head coaches and 42nd all-time in wins and win percentage.


“I am excited beyond words to be given the opportunity to be a part of ETSU's amazing athletic department and to lead such a successful soccer program,” said Vital. “I am eager to get started and look forward to meeting the current soccer players as well as all the other members of the ETSU Buccaneer family. I thank search committee members, Dr. Richard Sander and Dr. Brian Noland for the trust they have put in me to lead the ETSU men’s soccer program.”


Coach Vital wrapped up a 13-year run at Tusculum where his 90 victories rank third all-time in program history. Vital led the Pioneers to three SAC Tournament titles (2014, 2016 and 2018) and was named SAC Coach of the Year in his first season at Tusculum after guiding the team to a 6-1-2 mark in league play. That marked Vital’s seventh career SAC Coach of the Year honor.


The 2018 squad won seven of their final nine matches, while defeating Wingate, Carson-Newman and Anderson during the Pioneers’ run in the tournament. Tusculum then advanced to the Southeast Region semifinal after taking down Queens (N.C.) 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.


In 2016, Vital led the Pioneers to 12 straight wins to open the season, resulting in Tusculum’s longest win streak as a NCAA Division II member. The Pioneers went 16-4 that season and finished the year ranked No. 24 in the country and third in the Southeast Region.


Vital’s first conference tournament title with the Pioneers came in 2014 – the first for a Tusculum team since 2009. The Pioneers entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and defeated Carson-Newman, Mars Hill and 20th-ranked Wingate to earn the championship title. After advancing past Mars Hill in penalty kicks, Tusculum won in double-overtime against the nationally ranked Wingate squad in the title game.


During his 13 years at Tusculum, Vital coached 35 all-conference players, 12 all-tournament team selections and three SAC Tournament MVPs. The Pioneers also excelled in the classroom under Vital’s watch as 14 players received CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, four players were named Academic All-Americans and two Pioneers earned the SAC Scholar-Athlete accolade.


Prior to his run in Greeneville, Vital built a power at nearby Carson-Newman. In his 14 seasons at Carson-Newman, Vital led the Eagles to eight South Atlantic Conference championships (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010), one SAC Tournament title (2005) and eight consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). Vital was named Conference Coach of the Year six times (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011) and NCAA Division II Region Coach of the Year twice (2003, 2005).


Vital led Carson-Newman to eight straight winning seasons from 2003-2010 where the Eagles went 115-31-14 overall (.763) and 49-6-4 in conference play (.864) during that historical run.


In 2003, Vital and the Eagles enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in program history as Carson-Newman went 14-6-3 overall and 6-1 in league play en route to winning its second SAC title in four years. The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight following wins over two top-10 ranked programs in UNC Pembroke and USC Spartanburg. After the season, Carson-Newman was ranked No. 12 in the final D-II national poll.


The following year, Vital’s program notched the highest win percentage in school history after finishing 17-2-1, resulting in an .875 mark. The Eagles, who were ranked No. 1 in the country in the NSCAA Division II Poll during the season, won the SAC title, while Vital earned another Coach of the Year honor and Tyler Baldock was pegged SAC Player of the Year.


The accolades kept coming a year later as Vital and Baldock repeated those honors, while Carson-Newman set the program record for wins after finishing 18-2-2. The Eagles finished the season ranked No. 6 nationally after registering their third straight SAC Championship and first-ever SAC Tournament title. In 2006, Vital’s squad capped off the first four-peat in SAC history as Carson-Newman went 14-2-2 overall and ended the campaign No. 15 in the Division II Poll.


Despite its run for a fifth straight league title coming to an end in 2007, Carson-Newman finished the year ranked 13th in the country and the Eagles made its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.


Vital guided the Eagles to a share of the 2008 league regular season title with Tusculum and followed with the program’s seventh and eighth league crowns in 2009 and 2010.


To go with the 158 wins at Carson-Newman, Vital coached 57 all-conference selections, 32 all-region honorees, three All-Americans, two SAC Players of the Year, one SAC Freshman of the Year and one SAC Scholar-Athlete.


“Allen is a vastly experienced and accomplished coach and leader,” said Dr. Adam Sayers, Global Sport Leadership Doctoral Faculty / ETSU Athletics Sport Supervisor. “His record in his previous head coaching roles speak for itself. He has brought success and recognition to institutions in our region, building teams through masterful recruiting locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. As a person of deep integrity, we are sure he will serve the student-athletes in our athletic department, the university, and the wider regional community with the professionalism and honor that the role demands. We are thrilled Allen will be joining ETSU.”


During his time as a player, Vital spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Lees-McRae where he led the Bobcats to two NJCAA Region 10 Championships. Vital played the 1990 and 1991 seasons at Tusculum where he was selected to the NAIA All-District 24 both years. Vital led the Pioneers to a combined 26-16-2 record and won the 1990 Tennessee Virginia Athletic Conference Championship and 1991 NAIA District title.


Vital spent three years as the Coordinator of Special Student Activities and Soccer Coach at Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tennessee. He holds an Advance National license by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.


Vital has been very active in youth soccer development throughout the State of Tennessee. He served for several years on the coaching staff of the East Tennessee Soccer Federation as well as on the coaching staff of the Olympic Development Program for the State of Tennessee. Vital was also the director of coaching and player development for the Lakeway Soccer Club as well as the Star Soccer Academy of Morristown, Tenn.


Vital not only has an outstanding soccer resume – he is also a scholar. Along with a Business Administration degree from Tusculum, he minored in French and Art, while also earning a Master of Arts in Talent Development. Vital is trilingual, speaking English, French and Haitian Creole.


Vital and his wife, Christina are the proud parents of three sons: Devin Alain, Jean-Pierre and Remi.