George Kiefer, entering his 12th season at the University of South Florida, has quickly become one of the nation's most successful and respected coaches. The 2005 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) South Region Coach of the Year looks to continue to build on the foundation laid over the past 10 seasons in making USF one of the nation's top soccer programs. 

A native of Bay Shore, N.Y., Kiefer was named USF's head coach on June 21, 2002, becoming the program's sixth coach since it began collegiate competition in 1966. Since arriving in Tampa, Kiefer has compiled a 123-62-32 record in ten years at USF, leading the Bulls to seven seasons of 10-or-more wins - including 13 or more wins in a season five times - and a 74-17-15 record at home. Kiefer also guided the Bulls to the nation's longest home unbeaten streak, which ended on Sept. 9, 2010, a stretch of 30 games without a defeat at the USF Soccer Stadium. Under Kiefer, USF has faced 53 ranked opponents, registering a 28-20-5 record versus the nation's elite.

A total of 43 all-conference selections have been honored under Kiefer as well as 19 NSCAA All-South Region selections,  a Big East Offensive Player of the Year,  four Freshman All-Americans and three Conference USA Freshmen of the Year. In addition, former forward Dom Dwyer was named second team National Soccer Coaches Association of America First Team All-America following the 2009 season joining former Bulls Jeff Attinella and Yohance Marshall as the only three players to earn the honor under Kiefer.

Although Kiefer takes pride in all of his players' academic successes, two that stand out are honors that were handed down following the 2008 and 2009 seasons when Zak Boggs earned the BIG EAST Conference's highest academic honor - The BIG EAST Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. Then, the following year, Francisco Aristeguieta was tabbed with the honor marking back-to-back years that a USF student-athlete earned the prestigious award. The honor is given annually to the top academic performer across all male sports in the BIG EAST Conference.

In addition Kiefer's teams also established themselves in the classroom. Kiefer has led four Big East Scholar Athlete Award winners and a COSIDA Academic All-American From 2002 to 2004, the Bulls earned 27 C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll selections (GPA of 3.0 or better), seven C-USA Academic Medals (GPA of 3.75 or better), and a C-USA Sports Academic Award (2003-04 - top men's soccer team GPA).

Nationally, USF men's soccer players have earned three ESPN Academic All-District (GPA of 3.2 or better, Dane Brenner - 2006, Zak Boggs and Francisco Aristeguieta - 2008) and two ESPN Academic All-America (Chris Raye - 2004 and Zak Boggs - 2008) honors. The Bulls also received the NSCAA Team Academic Award in 2003-04, 2008-09, 2009-10 and again for the 2010-11 academic year.

Kiefer has always subscribed to the theory that not just performance in the classroom and on the soccer field make up a true student-athlete, but a dedication to helping to make the community a better place is just as important. The Bulls are extensively involved in the Tampa Bay area in numerous community events whether it be visiting local schools to read to elementary school children, or to nursing homes or hospitals to visit patients, the USF men's soccer team has certainly made an impact in the areas around them.

As a result of Kiefer's continued push for community involvement, and for his commitment to volunteering and charity, former Bull Zak Boggs capped a remarkable career both on and off the field being named a finalist for three prestigious honors: The Lowes Senior CLASS Award, The Coach Wooden Citizens Cup - in which he won - and the AAU Sullivan Award given to the top amateur athlete in the United States.

Since stepping foot on the USF campus, Kiefer has made it a point to bring the best talent to the men's soccer program in his quest to build one of the top collegiate team's in America. Since 2003, Kiefer's recruiting classes have been recognized as one of the nation's best.

Following his teaching at USF, a number of former Bulls have moved on the professional ranks with the latest being star forward Dom Dwyer who was selected in the first round of the 2011 MLS Draft by Sporting K.C.

In his 10 seasons at the head of the USF men’s soccer program, Kiefer has made the Bulls’ one of the premiere college soccer programs in the country. He has led USF to a pair of Big East Red Division Titles in 2005 and 2011 as well as a Big East Tournament Title in 2008.

Under Kiefer, USF has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of the past seven seasons including two of the programs three Elite Eight appearances in 2008 and 2011.

The Bulls have had seven seasons with 10 or more victories and five seasons with 13 or more victories, the latest being a 13 win season in 2011.

Kiefer took the reins from former head coach John Hackworth, who led the program to a regular season Conference USA title (shared), a conference tournament title and two NCAA tournament appearances in his four short seasons at USF. 

Kiefer came to USF with seven years experience as an assistant coach, having assisted Ray Reid at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) from 1995-96 and, most recently, at the University of Connecticut from 1997 through the spring of 2002. Tabbed by Reid as "one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the country," Kiefer helped the two Connecticut programs achieve an extraordinary amount of success.

A player-turned-coach, Kiefer played professionally with the Connecticut Wolves (USISL) from 1994-95 and played his college ball for SCSU from 1990-93, helping lead the Owls to two NCAA National Championships and four-straight New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championships. He is a USSF "A" licensed coach and has been a Region I Olympic Development Program Assessor and a Connecticut Olympic Development Program Head Coach. He earned his bachelor's degree in corporate communications in 1994 and his master's in physical education in 1997, both from SCSU.

Following a graduate assistantship at SCSU in 1994, during which the Owls made an NCAA Division II National Semifinal appearance, Kiefer joined Southern's coaching staff full-time in 1995. In just two seasons as an assistant, Kiefer helped lead the Owls to an NCAA National Championship in 1995 and an NCAA National Semifinal appearance in 1996. He also coached six first team All-Americans, two of whom were named NCAA Division II Player of the Year and one that was named CoSIDA's Division II Player of the Year. Two of these players, Mike Petke and Chris Houser, went on to play in Major League Soccer (MLS) for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and the (former) Tampa Bay Mutiny, respectively.

In 1997, Kiefer followed Reid to UConn, where he quickly established himself as one of college soccer's top recruiters.

Under a dry spell with only one BIG EAST Championship since 1989, the Huskies needed only one season under Kiefer's recruiting guidance to reverse their BIG EAST fortune. After finishing seventh in conference play in 1997, UConn posted a first-place regular-season finish in 1998, its first of four consecutive titles, and added a BIG EAST Tournament Championship in 1999. The Huskies were 40-12-2 (.759) in regular-season conference games and 7-4 (.636) in the BIG EAST tournament from 1997-2001.

Above and beyond the BIG EAST, Kiefer helped guide UConn to two College Cup appearances, including an NCAA semifinal bid in 1999 and an NCAA title in 2000. The Huskies made it to the first and second rounds of the tournament in 1998 and 2001, respectively, and earned five-straight tournament berths. UConn posted an 82-24-6 (.759) overall mark from 1997-01, including an 8-3 (.727) record in NCAA tournament play.

While at UConn, Kiefer successfully recruited and coached nine All-Americans, including Hermann Trophy winner Chris Gbandi (Dallas Burn) and Herman Trophy finalist Brent Rahim (Levski Sofia of Bulgaria and a member of the Trinidad and Tobago National Team), and seven BIG EAST Player of the Year Award winners. Six of these players have gone on to be drafted by and/or currently play with MLS teams.

Kiefer is married to wife Lauren and the couple has a daughter, Kendall, born on Feb. 7, 2004 and twin sons Jack (three minutes older) and Max, born Sept. 6, 2006.