Craig Roberts, enters his second season as the Grambling State University head soccer coach. In his first season he immediately returned GSU back to the SWAC Championship, falling one penalty kick shy of reaching the NCAA tournament.
Prior to Grambling State, Roberts served as an assistant coach with the Puerto Rico women’s national team, having previously filled the same role with Haiti. Through that experience, he has coached against national teams from countries such as the United States, Mexico and Canada. He has also coached against some of the world’s best players, including Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo.
After a successful nine year stretch at Ball State University, Roberts took on a new challenge, leading the Puerto Rico Sol professional team in Liga, Puerto Rico, where he managed the team to being recognized as the number one team in the Caribbean. In addition, the program was recognized in the Guinness Book of Records for most consecutive victories in top-flight competition.
Roberts’ Cardinals won four consecutive Mid-American Conference West Division titles from 2015-2018 (79 percent win rate) and claimed back-to-back MAC regular season championships in 2015 and 2016. Ball State also made an appearance in the MAC Tournament Championship in 2018. Along the way, the native of Kidderminster, England, has become the winningest coach in program history with 99 victories at BSU.
Roberts guided the Cardinals to a record of 35-5-4 in conference play over his last four seasons with the program, marking the best record of any MAC team during that stretch. The Cardinals went 14-3-3 overall in 2018 for the program’s sixth straight season with double-digit victories. BSU went 8-2-1 in MAC play to finish second and advance to the MAC Championship game.
The Cardinals extended their
home unbeaten streak to 25 games before finally suffering a loss in 2017. BSU had the longest such active streak in the country before finally suffering its first home defeat in nearly three full years. Roberts has guided the Cardinals to a 51-11-10 home mark since the team moved to the Briner Sports Complex in his second season.
Ball State went 14-3-3 overall in both 2015 and 2016, winning the MAC regular season championship in both years and finishing one shy of the school record for wins in a season. The Cardinals became the second program in MAC history to win back-to-back outright regular season championships (the first was BSU in 2006 and 2007).
Ball State went 10-0-1 in MAC play in 2015, setting a program record for conference victories, and followed it up by going 9-1-1 in 2016. The 19 combined wins are tied for the most by any team in a two-year period in league history. BSU cracked the top 70 in the RPI in both of those seasons, including an all-time high of No. 40 during the 2016 campaign.
The Cardinals compiled a school-record 10-game unbeaten streak in 2016, beginning with an overtime road victory over ACC opponent Louisville. It was the program’s first win over a Power Five opponent since 2006.
The 2016 season featured another pair of milestone victories for Roberts. He recorded the 100th win of his head coaching career Sept. 23 against Buffalo and broke the BSU wins record Oct. 14 against Bowling Green.
The 2015 championship marked Ball State’s return to prominence following a steady rise under Roberts’ guidance. After inheriting a program that won just four games the year prior to his arrival, Roberts improved the Cardinals’ winning percentage each season, reaching double-figure victories in both 2013 and 2014 before the major breakthrough.
Both of those teams gave glimpses of the program’s potential by reaching the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. The 2013 squad became the first Ball State team to reach the championship game, falling just short against a Western Michigan squad that went on to defeat Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 2014 squad led the MAC in scoring with 32 goals and placed second in the league’s West Division, marking Ball State’s best finish since the league implemented divisions for soccer in 2010. That stood only briefly before the Cardinals finished atop the division in 2015.
Twice early in Roberts’ tenure, when the Cardinals were the hunter instead of the hunted, Ball State spoiled an opponent’s perfect MAC record in the final game of the regular season. The 2010 team defeated a Toledo squad that was previously unbeaten and untied in league play, and the 2012 team played Miami University to a draw to end its perfect MAC season.
Strong defense has been a hallmark of the Ball State program under Roberts. The Cardinals have recorded 60 shutouts during his tenure and tied the school record with 10 of them in 2016. His 2015 and 2016 teams both ranked among the top 25 nationally in goals against average. BSU has led the MAC in that category three times in the past five years.
Roberts has coached some of the most decorated players in Ball State history. Under his guidance, Lorina White was twice named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Leah Mattingly earned all-conference honors three times, and Alyssa Heintschel racked up awards for her performance on the field and in the classroom. Most recently, Tatiana Mason was named the MAC Freshman of the Year.
Heintschel was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (2016 and 2017) and was one of five players nationwide named to the Senior CLASS Award First Team in her final season. The 4.0 chemistry student set school records for goalkeeper wins (35) and goals against average (0.77) in a career. She was the second BSU player to earn Academic All-America First Team honors, joining another Roberts-coached player, Skylar Chew, in 2012. The Cardinals have had nine Academic All-District selections, eight NSCAA Scholar All-Region choices and 54 Academic All-MAC performers in Roberts’ tenure.
On the field, Roberts has coached a total of 18 All-MAC selections and 11 MAC All-Freshman Team honorees at Ball State. The Cardinals tied a league record with five All-MAC First Team selections in 2015. Roberts has coached nine Ball State players who have competed at various national team levels and several who have gone on to play professionally.
Brigit Reder, who finished her Ball State career in 2012, later competed for the Seattle Sounders Women of the W-League and also played in Sweden. White and Veldman are currently pursuing professional careers overseas.
Ball State’s success has been built upon Roberts-recruited players like the 2016 senior class of Mattingly, White, Veldman, Chay McNitt and Kelsey Wendlandt. That group won 50 games during its career, the second-most ever by a single class at BSU. White came to Ball State as the national junior college player of the year.
Roberts owns an overall record of 99-56-28 in his nine years at Ball State. For his 13-year head coaching career, including his first stop at UT Martin, he is 133-83-40.
Roberts left UT Martin as the most successful coach in the program's history. His final team in 2009 won the Skyhawks’ first-ever Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship. Over his last three seasons at UT Martin, his team tallied 29 wins, matching the combined number of victories for the program’s previous seven seasons. He left with the school’s top three marks for wins in a season, including the program’s first ever 10-win campaigns (2007 and 2008).
Under Roberts' guidance in 2009, UT Martin picked up its first OVC title with a 9-7-0 overall record and a 6-2-0 mark in league play, marking the program's most conference wins in a single season. The Skyhawks finished the season 39th in NCAA Division I in shutout percentage as they posted eight on the season and only allowed 13 goals in 16 games.
In 2008, Roberts posted his second straight 10-win season as UTM finished the year 10-5-4 overall and advanced to the program's first ever OVC Tournament championship game. His team finished 21st in NCAA Division I in goals against average at 0.65. In 2007, Roberts led the 16th-most improved team in the country as the Skyhawks posted a 10-6-3 record, doubling their win total in just his second season.
During his time at UT Martin, Roberts compiled a 34-27-12 record, including a 19-3-1 home mark over his final three seasons. Under his tutelage, the Skyhawks had five first-team All-OVC players, five All-OVC Newcomer players, nine OVC All-Tournament players, 16 OVC Players of the Week, 41 players on the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and three players who received an OVC Medal of Honor (4.0 GPA).
Prior to UT Martin, Roberts spent two seasons as the associate head men’s coach at Virginia Military Institute. In 2005, he helped VMI to the 16th-most improved Division I record in the nation as it earned its first winning season in 16 years. He was nominated for the prestigious NSCAA Assistant Coach of the Year award for his work with the Keydets.
Prior to VMI, Roberts was an assistant at Saint Mary’s College of California, where he helped the Gaels to a No. 24 ranking in the nation during his time. He began his collegiate coaching career at Park University (Mo.), his alma mater, where he was an assistant men's and women's coach for teams ranked in the top 10 nationally in NAIA.
Roberts was a four-year starter and captain at Park for the nationally ranked Pirates. He received all-region accolades for his performance in the 1992 season. He earned his bachelor's degree in education with a concentration in athletic training and biology from Park in 1997 and his master’s degree in education from Park in 2003. He is currently pursuing a master’s of kinesiology from Saint Mary’s.
Roberts participated in national schoolboy team tryouts in England at an early age and went on to obtain semi-professional and professional playing experiences with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Oxford United, Kidderminster Harriers and Worcester City.
Roberts holds his United States Soccer Federation (USSF) 'A' License, NSCAA Premier License, NSCAA Goalkeeper Diploma, USSF Youth Specialist License and his English Football Association Coaching License. He holds some of highest coaching credentials both in the USA and internationally along with extensive background in sports medicine and sports psychology.
| CRAIG ROBERTS CAREER RECORD |
| Year |
School |
Overall Record |
Postseason |
Conference Record |
Conference Tourney Finish |
Finish |
| 2006 |
UT-Martin |
5-9-5 |
--- |
2-3-4 |
OVC Quarterfinals |
6th |
| 2007 |
UT-Martin |
10-6-3 |
--- |
4-2-3 |
OVC Semifinals |
4th |
| 2008 |
UT-Martin |
10-5-4 |
--- |
4-2-2 |
OVC Championship Game |
2nd |
| 2009 |
UT-Martin |
9-7-0 |
--- |
6-2-0 |
OVC Semifinals |
2nd |
| 2010 |
Ball State |
7-10-2 |
--- |
1-8-2 |
--- |
6th (West) |
| 2011 |
Ball State |
9-9-3 |
--- |
4-5-2 |
MAC Quarterfinals |
4th (West) |
| 2012 |
Ball State |
8-7-5 |
--- |
5-3-3 |
MAC Quarterfinals |
3rd (West) |
| 2013 |
Ball State |
11-7-4 |
--- |
5-4-2 |
MAC Championship Game |
4th (West) |
| 2014 |
Ball State |
11-7-2 |
--- |
6-5-0 |
MAC Semifinals |
2nd (West) |
| 2015 |
Ball State |
14-3-3 |
--- |
10-1-0 |
MAC Quarterfinals |
1st (West) |
| 2016 |
Ball State |
14-3-3 |
--- |
9-1-1 |
MAC Quarterfinals |
1st (West) |
| 2017 |
Ball State |
11-7-3 |
--- |
8-1-2 |
MAC Semifinals |
1st (West) |
| 2018 |
Ball State |
14-3-3 |
--- |
8-2-1 |
MAC Championship |
2nd |
| 2021 (Spring) |
Grambling State |
8-2-2 |
--- |
6-1-1 |
SWAC Championship Game |
2nd |
| 2021 (Fall) |
Grambling State |
9-7-3 |
--- |
6-2-1 |
SWAC Championship Game |
3rd |
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| TOTAL |
|
150-92-45 |
|
84-42-24 |
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| OVC Tournament Record |
2-4-1 |
|
Penalty Kick Shootout Record |
2-5 |
| MAC Tournament Record |
5-5-4 |
|
(Ties in conference tournaments reflect penalty kicks) |
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| SWAC Tournament Record |
4-0-2 |
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| CONFERENCE TOURNEY RECORD |
11-9-7 |
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