MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary University Athletic Department announced today the hiring of John Baillie as their next head soccer coach. Coach John Baillie will take the reins and begin preparing for the 2017-18 season immediately.

"I'm passionate about soccer, but I'm even more passionate about helping students grow and develop into confident, disciplined, successful adults in all aspects of their lives: as soccer players, students, and individuals," said the new Mount Mary Head Soccer Coach John Baillie.

"I encourage my teams to be accountable to one another and to commit to one another in pursuit of a shared goal. Mount Mary's mission of development of the whole person and core values of competence, community, commitment, and compassion align perfectly with my coaching philosophy."

Coach Baillie has spent the last year coaching at the Waunakee Soccer Club. Prior to that, coach Baillie worked as the assistant varsity and goalkeeper coach for Madison East High School from 2013-16.

No stranger to the NCAA ranks, coach Baillie worked numerous roles at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. Among the many coaching titles at Knox, John Baillie served as the assistant women's soccer coach for four seasons.

At Knox, Coach Baillie ran goalkeeper practice for the women's team for all four years while working as the program's assistant coach. The young coach also worked with the men's soccer program for two seasons at Knox, while also working as the head tennis coach for four seasons and men's assistant basketball coach for two seasons.

"John's [Baillie] experience coaching and recruiting at an NCAA Division III private institution definitely played an important role in the committee's recommendation," offered Mount Mary Director of Athletics Marc Heidorf. "Additionally throughout the interview process it was apparent he had done his homework and knew about Mount Mary and the soccer student-athletes."

Coach Baillie will take over the Mount Mary University soccer team on the heels of two of the program's most successful seasons in school history. MMU tied the program's single-season record for wins in 2016 when they finished 8-7 and then came one goal short of being the first team in MMU history to post back-to-back winning seasons in 2017.

MMU continues to grow their program after sending over half of their roster to the Association of Division III Independents All-Association team in 2017, multiple returners for 2018 could mean MMU making a splash in American Collegiate Athletic Association in the Blue Angels first season in the conference.

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