Jaime Ibarra joined men's soccer's coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2019 season after spending more than two years with Southern Methodist University’s men’s soccer program. During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Ibarra served as a graduate assistant as the Mustangs won back-to-back American Athletic Conference championships.
In two years, Ibarra has helped the Spartans win a SoCon regular season title, SoCon Tournament postseason tournament championship, make an NCAA Tournament appearance, and earn a national ranking. In addition, Ibarra has helped UNCG land two of best recruiting classes in the nation.
In his second year, Ibarra and the Spartans won the Southern Conference Tournament championship and hosted a first round game in the NCAA Tournament. In addition, the Spartans received votes in the final United Soccer Coaches poll of the 2021 spring season … UNCG finished with a 9-3-2 record and a .714 winning percentage, the best since 2005 (.717). The Spartans had five players who earned All-SoCon recognition, including co-Freshman of the Year, Theo Collomb.
Nationally, UNCG ranked 12th in total goals (27) and corner kicks per game (6.79), 19th in goal differential (+13), 20th in shots per game (14.64), 22nd in total points (73), 23rd in scoring offense (27), 30th in shots on goal per game (6.14), 32nd in winning percentage (.714), 33rd in total assists (19), 42nd in shutout percentage (.429), 43rd in points per game (5.21), and 49th in goals against average (.958).
Coach Ibarra and the rest of the Spartan coaching staff led UNCG to a Southern Conference Regular Season title in 2019, finishing with a 9-9-1 record, while going 5-1-0 in conference play. Entering the SoCon tournament as a No. 2 seed, UNCG reached as far as the conference final after defeating No. 6 Belmont in the semis. The Spartans ranked second in the SoCon with a goals against average of 1.29, while shutting out five squads over the course of the season. Under Coach Ibarra, freshman goalkeeper Brendan Pulley led the Southern Conference with a 0.98 goals against average, and was second in the SoCon with a .895 save percentage in conference play. Pulley was both a SoCon All-Freshman but a Second Team All-SoCon goalkeeper as well.
In 2017, the Mustangs won 17 games – most since the 2006 season – en route to an appearance in the third round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The next season, SMU defeated then-No. 7 UCF in the AAC Championship Game to earn a second-straight trip to postseason play.
Prior to his time at SMU, Ibarra was an assistant coach at Mountain View Community College and worked with the North Texas Olympic Development Program. He earned a B.A. in History and a M.B.E in Bilingual Education from SMU.
