Littering the walls of Loyola men’s soccer head coach Neil Jones’ corner office are the bright multi-colored jerseys of his program’s most prized possessions — its professional players.
Fresh off an offseason in which two more former players turned professional, Jones has now helped eight of his former players reach the pros in his six seasons in Rogers Park. Jones said this achievement is a major source of pride for the program and also a huge boon for recruitment as prior to his arrival, the program had only a single player turn professional in its history.
“For us it’s a big recruiting tool being able to show off these jerseys to a 17-year-old kid that comes here and says, ‘I want to play [Division] I and be a pro,’” Jones said.