North Texas Soccer Camps
Camp Director

John Hedlund
Camp Director

Having established himself as one of the most prominent coaches in the Central Region, John Hedlund, who is in his 18th year at North Texas, has molded the soccer program into one of the nation’s elite.

Hedlund has had a winning season all 17 years he has been at North Texas; only Anson Dorrance (North Carolina, 30 years) and John Daly (William & Mary, 25 years) have active streaks of more winning seasons at one school. Since 1995, Coach Hedlund has led North Texas to a 234-94-21 record, the 8th-best winning percentage among all coaches nationally at just one school.

In 2011, Hedlund led the Mean Green to its sixth overall conference championship trophy and fourth regular season title. North Texas beat Denver 1-0 on the last day of the season to clinch the Sun Belt title. Hedlund was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year for the Mean Green's 8-1-1 conference season.

Hedlund celebrated his 200-win milestone with a 2-1 triumph over Baylor on September 11, 2009.

During Hedlund’s tenure at North Texas he has won 234 games, ranking him 18th among Division I women’s soccer active coaches with a winning percentage of .701. All-time, he is the 18th-winningest coach among Division I coaches. Hedlund is also ranked 27th in victories among active coaches in Division I women’s soccer.

During his 17 years as the head coach of the Mean Green, Hedlund has seen 56 players selected to the all-conference team, 16 players named all-region, and the Mean Green has never had a losing season in the program’s history.

Under Hedlund’s leadership, North Texas has captured four Sun Belt Conference regular season championships and two Sun Belt Conference Tournament titles. Hedlund has been named Sun Belt Coach of the Year three times (2004, 2005, 2011) and has been recognized as the North Texas Coach of the Year by the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas All Sports Association.  He was also named the Coach of the Year by the Greater Denton Sports Commission two years in a row.

Hedlund started the program from scratch in 1995 by implementing a game plan that emphasizes recruiting from the surplus of talent available in the Lone Star State. In his 17 years, the Mean Green has vaulted itself into one of the premier programs in the state of Texas.

In 2007, Hedlund led North Texas to its best start in school history with a 13-2 record through the first 15 games. Within the first 15 games the Mean Green had two six-game winning streaks for the first time in school history. North Texas reached the conference tournament championship game for the eighth straight season, a feat that has been unmatched by any other in the Sun Belt Conference.

In 2006, Hedlund guided the Mean Green to its third straight season of 15 wins or more. The Mean Green racked up a 12-game unbeaten streak and a nine-game winning streak last season in reaching the SBC Tournament title game for the seventh straight year.

Hedlund led the Mean Green to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and a school-record 16 wins in 2004. Hedlund equaled that performance by winning 16 games and leading the Mean Green to back-to-back SBC titles in 2005 and a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Hedlund was also named the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. In 2005, North Texas set numerous school records and had the nation’s third longest unbeaten streak at 15 games.

At home, North Texas has established a record of dominance, with a record of 96-9-7 since the 2000 season.

Individually Hedlund brought out the best in forward Marilyn Marin as she turned in the best individual season in North Texas history in 2002. Marin led the nation in goals, points, and points per game. She ended her career with 214 career points, tied for 10th in NCAA history, 88 goals, eight in NCAA history, 2.70 points per game, tied for seventh in NCAA history, and 1.11 goals per game, tied for eighth in NCAA history.

His standard for success reached a new high in 2001 when he guided the Mean Green to the Sun Belt Conference’s regular-season championship -- the program’s first-ever soccer title -- and a 13-5 overall record.

But winning is nothing new to Hedlund and the Mean Green. His teams have been ranked in the Top 10 in the region in 12 of the last 16 years, with the 2005 club posting the school’s best-ever record of 16-4-2. Hedlund’s program can boast having never had a losing record.

In 11 years in the Sun Belt Conference, the Mean Green has also earned the respect of the league’s coaches. 42 different players have been selected all-conference and 31 have been named first-team all-conference since joining the SBC. 

Marin and Kendall Juett are the only four-time all-conference selections in North Texas soccer history. Heather Hutyra became the second player at North Texas to the named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. Under Hedlund’s guidance, four of his players have also been chosen Freshman All-America, including Marin as a first team pick in 2000. Freshman Janaye Woods joined that list she was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and named to the Freshman All-Region team in 2007.

Four women’s soccer players have been inducted to the North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame. Krista Davey became the first soccer player to be inducted in 2005, followed by Christy Johnson in 2007 and Marilyn Marin in 2008. Melinda Pina was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

Under Hedlund, the Mean Green have also succeeded in the classroom, boasting an overall 3.4 team GPA in 2000 and twice being named the school’s All-Academic Team in 1998 and 1999.

The team was recognized for its off-field accomplishments by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as one of the recipients for the 2010 NSCAA Team Academic Award. The NSCAA annually hands out the academic honor to Division I schools whose team grade point average is a 3.0 or higher and the most recent accolade is for the 2009-10 academic year. The Mean Green, who posted a 3.30 team GPA in the spring of 2010 have now earned at least a 3.0 team GPA three years in a row. Additionally, the women’s soccer team’s APR (Academic Progress Report) has been ranked in the top 10% nationally three out of the last four years.

Hedlund’s association with North Texas began in 1990 as an assistant men’s soccer coach. He served briefly as the head coach of the men’s program in 1994 before the university discontinued the sport.

In 1995, Hedlund concluded a 12-year professional playing career, in which he played for the New York Express (1984-85), the Dallas Sidekicks (1986-87 and 1992-95) and the Dallas Rockets (1988-91).

A four-year letterwinner at Midwestern State University, Hedlund was twice voted to the NAIA All-America team in college.

The Plano native holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Midwestern State and resides in Argyle with his wife, Julie, and sons Chad, who plays football for Wake Forest, and Cole.