Oglethorpe University

Jon Akin Profile

First Season as Head Coach: 2003-04
Tenure: 2025-26 is his 23rd season
Total W-L-T at Oglethorpe: 211-133-39
Total W-L-T Overall: 211-133-39
Times Named Conf. Coach of the Year: 9
Alma Mater: Saint Leo, 1999

Jon Akin has rewritten the record book since he arrived at Oglethorpe 22 seasons ago as a young head coach at the age of 25. Since his arrival, he has become the winningest coach in the 60-plus years of the program, compiling a 202-130-33 mark.

Program Success

Akin has coached the team to the program’s first-ever conference championship, taking the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) championship in 2011 and earning the program’s first-ever NCAA berth after a 17-4 season. That same season, Akin was named SCAC coach of the year for the second time in his career and saw player Mark Lavery named SCAC defensive player of the year and NSCAA All-America first team.

There have been five all-Americans in the history of the program, and Akin has coached them all. St. Louis’ David Mueller earned the honor in 2005, Lavery in 2011, Topher Marshall in 2017 and 2018, Ryan Marcano in 2017 and 2019, and Ben Alram in 2023 and 2024.

Akin’s staff has also seen several recent coaches moving on to full-time positions in professional soccer and various programs all over the ranks of college soccer, from Division I to NAIA. Former assistant Keylor Reyes is on the international stage as an assistant with the Costa Rican national team. Carter Sadin now serves as director of operations for Power 5 University of Central Florida, Barat Killian is the technical director for Alaska Rush, Nate Getman serves as an assistant coach at Georgia Southwestern, and Josh Bronstorph earned the assistant position at South Carolina. 

Style of Play

Akin has brought in some of the best Division III soccer talent in the country with several all-conference and all-region players and multiple newcomers of the year and players of the year. Oglethorpe has also received well over 40 transfer students from prestigious Division I programs.

Under Akin, the team plays a very attractive style, with possession-oriented soccer, building from the back and playing quickly through the lines. This style has helped greatly in recruiting, as it is a system that players love to play. The coaching staff focuses on technique, work ethic and player improvement and looks for players who have the ability to play in and will improve within the system.

Last Season

The team achieved tremendous success, including runner-up in the SAA regular season and champion in the SAA postseason, the latter earning the Petrels a berth to the NCAA Championships. Oglethorpe suffered a round of 64 defeat to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2-0 despite the game being a scoreless tie late in the second half.

Akin’s team once again dominated the postseason awards docket with nearly the entire starting lineup on the All-SAA list. Adrian Levy and Daniel Amah highlighted the list as offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively, and Ben Alram also earned spots on the all-region team and all-America fourth team.

Notable Past Seasons

2013: Akin led the team to its second overall conference title and first SAA title, and he was named conference coach of the year for the third time. That team also secured the SAA offensive player of the year award for senior Nick Williamson and the SAA defensive player of the year honor for senior Clemson transfer Nikos Papanikolopolous. The team finished 11-3-3 and lost just once over their final 15 games.

2015: Akin led the Petrels to a 10-3-3 record, the program’s first-ever regular season conference championship and its third conference championship of any type during his tenure. Akin earned the fourth conference coach of the year award of his tenure and his second SAA coach of the year honor. The 2015 team saw goalkeeper Vaughn Moore earn SAA defensive player of the year honors, while midfielder Topher Marshall won the SAA newcomer of the year award. The Petrels also put eight players on All-SAA teams in 2015, while midfielder Nick Muntean was named to the All-South Atlantic Region second team and the Scholar All-South Region Team by the NSCAA.

2016: The season saw the Petrels pick up where they left off the year before, as they went undefeated in SAA play to win their second consecutive SAA regular season title and their fourth conference trophy overall. Marshall again picked up some impressive postseason hardware, this time winning the SAA offensive player of the year award. Team captain Micah Akin won SAA defensive player of the year honors, while Akin earned SAA coach of the year for the second straight campaign, marking the fifth conference coach of the year award of his career. The Petrels put nine total players on All-SAA teams in 2016, while Marshall earned All-South Atlantic honors and midfielders Josh Hoeft and Erik Marquez took Scholar All-South accolades.

2024: The team achieved tremendous success, including winning both conference titles and earning a berth to the NCAA Championships. Oglethorpe won the SAA regular season after a 6-1 record in the league, and the team later went on to win the tournament with a decisive 3-0 win over Rhodes in the finale. Rhodes has been Oglethorpe's only defeat during the SAA regular season. The tournament trophy automatically qualified the Stormy Petrels for the national tournament, where Oglethorpe suffered a round of 64 defeat to Colorado College, 3-2. Akin’s team once again dominated the postseason awards docket with nearly the entire starting lineup on the All-SAA list. Akin and Ben Alram highlighted the list as coach of the year and offensive player of the year, respectively, and Alram also earned spots on the all-region team and all-America first team. Daniel Amah and JR Cozine joined Alram on the all-region team, and goalkeeper Nicholas Mejia earned the NCAA honor as statistical champion for individual shutouts.

Outside Oglethorpe | Background

Akin is a consultant for Major League Soccer (MLS) as a professional match evaluator. He also works with the U.S. Soccer Federation as a national team scout and Development Academy evaluator.

Akin holds the U.S. Soccer “A” coaching license, the NSCAA “Premier” license (in which he received the highest rating with a “Distinguished Pass”), and the U.S. Soccer National “Youth” license. 

Education | Personal

Akin grew up in Pensacola, Florida, where he attended Pensacola Catholic High School. In 1995, he attended Saint Leo University as a freshman. Akin was named All-Conference first team and All-South. In 1996, he scored 28 goals and had 16 assists to lead the nation in scoring. He was All-American, All-South, and the Sunshine State Conference player of the year. In 1997, Akin was All-American first team, All-South, and All-Sunshine State Conference. In 1998, he ended his career at Saint Leo finishing second all-time in career goals with 61 and first in assists with 45. In 1998, he spent three months with Independiente of the Argentinian First Division.

In 1999, Akin was drafted by the Charleston Battery in the first round of the A-League draft. In 2000, he played in all 32 games for the Battery, who lost in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual-champion Rochester Raging Rhinos. During the 2000 offseason, Akin played with Kilkenny City of the Irish Premier League.

In 2001, Akin played 26 games for the Battery before losing to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the playoffs. He began the 2002 season with the Charleston Battery before being traded to the Atlanta Silverbacks, where he played 20 games.

Akin joined Oglethorpe’s staff as head coach shortly after finishing his playing career.

Timeline

• Summer 2003- Hired as head coach
• May, 2004- Named SCAC Coach of the Year
• October 13, 2009- Surpassed winningest coach in program history
• November 6, 2011- SCAC Championship win (first conference title in program history)
• November 11, 2011- Program's first NCAA tournament appearance
• November 17, 2011- Named SCAC Coach of the Year for the second time
• October 25, 2013- 100th win as head coach
• November 10, 2013- First SAA Championship win
• November 19, 2013- Named SAA Coach of the Year
• November 17, 2015- Named SAA Coach of the Year for the second time
• November 8, 2016- Named SAA Coach of the Year for the third time
• November 5, 2017- Second SAA Championship win
• November 6, 2017- Named SAA Coach of the Year for the fourth time
• November 11, 2017- First NCAA tournament win (first in program history)
• July 27, 2018- Named to Georgia Soccer's 50 Best Coaches in 50 Years
• November 5, 2018- Named SAA Coach of the Year for the fifth time
• November 9, 2021- Named SAA Coach of the Year for the sixth time
• October 28, 2023- 200th win as head coach
• November 1, 2023- Named SAA Coach of the Year for the seventh time