VILLANOVA,  Pa. — Villanova Women's Soccer head coach Samar Azem announced the addition of Ryan Jones to her coaching staff on Monday.
 
"We're thrilled to welcome Ryan to our program and to Villanova University," Azem said. "It will always be important for us to bring in good people. Ryan hits that out of the park.  The level of detail and commitment he puts into his players is beyond impressive. He also has an insatiable hunger to develop our players, recruits, and program. He lives, eats, and breathes the game and therefore brings a background of success to what he does and investment in the athletes he coaches and recruits.
 
Jones comes to the Main Line with a wealth of coaching experience, including stops at Seattle University, Murray State, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) while also mentoring a number of youth league teams in Pennsylvania, Washington and Ohio. He also had a four-year playing career at Marywood University and played internationally with Eccleshill United FC and PS Kemi Kings.
 
 "I am very excited to be joining Villanova University and to be able to join a staff with so much knowledge and enthusiasm for the game," Jones said. "I look forward to bringing my strengths to the program and learning from those around me as we work towards the future together. Throughout the hiring process, I felt a great sense of care, intention, and community when speaking with Samar, her staff, the team, and all those involved in Athletics. I am grateful for this opportunity and am eager to get started."
 
Jones joins Villanova after spending the last year at CWRU where he helped the women's team to a 12-2-4 overall record. The Spartans finished third in the UAA and hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, ending the season ranked 16th among all Division III schools in the final United Soccer Coaches poll. While there, he also coached with local premier club Cleveland Force, helping the Boys U17 ECNL-RL team navigate their league season and showcases.
 
Prior to CWRU, Jones was the Director of Player Development for the women's soccer team at Seattle during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Redhawks went 18-14-7 and were the No. 2 seed in the 2022 WAC Tournament. In Spring 2022, he started as the general manager of TOCA Soccer in Washington, overseeing the execution of all TOCA individual/small group/team trainings, programs, crossover events, and partnerships.
 
Before his time in the Pacific Northwest, Jones was an assistant coach for the women's team at Murray State. In two years with the program, the Racers compiled a 24-13-1 record, winning the 2018 OVC Championships and appearing in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
 
Jones had an illustrious collegiate career at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. In four years, he became the program's record holder for career and single-season assists, was tabbed an NSCAA College Division Scholar All-American and was a two-time CSAC Player of the Year. He was selected to the CSAC's 25th All-Anniversary Men's Soccer team and was inducted into the Marywood University Athletics Hall of Fame in early 2024. He also represented the US in gold-medal fashion at both the 2013 and 2017 Maccabiah Games.
 
Following his undergraduate career, Jones signed a professional contract with PS Kemi Kings, then a member of the second division of Finnish Soccer, before playing for non-league side Eccleshill United in Bradford, Egland. There, the group won the West Yorkshire Riding Cup and trained with Bradford City for two months.
 
Jones graduated from Marywood in 2013 with a degree in digital media and earned a master's degree in public relations and strategic communications from Leeds Beckett University in Leeds, England. He holds a UEFA B License with the Welsh Football Association, a Scottish FA UEFA C license, USSF National C license, & a NSCAA Goalkeeping 1 license.
 
"We've been fortunate to have great coaches as a part of our rebuild and along with our players, they have set the stage for us to bring in a staff that can elevate what we do," Azem added. "I'm extremely excited about where this program is going, the people invested, starting with and most importantly our players, our outstanding support staff, and Ryan and Erin. We welcome Ryan as he joins this incredible journey."