Head Coach Jim Svoboda
UCM FOOTBALL
Jim Svoboda
HEAD COACH | THIRD SEASON | 19-7 (.731) RECORD AT UCM Jim Svoboda was named the 28th Head Football Coach of the University of Central Missouri program on January 15, 2010. Now entering his third season, he has led the Mules to back-to-back postseason appearances for just the second time in school history and the second most wins in a two-year period in program history. Last year, the Mules had to replace four departed All-Americans and the Harlon Hill winner, but that didn’t stop UCM from still putting up big numbers. The Mules ranked sixth in NCAA-II in passing offense and finished with an 8-4 overall record and received a berth to play in the Kanza Bowl. Ten Mules earned all-MIAA honors with three players receiving All-American accolades. Svoboda’s first year proved to be the best of any coach in school history, helping the Mules to a school record 11-3 mark, and an 8-1 mark in the MIAA to finish second. He also led UCM to its second ever NCAA Playoff appearance, as well as the first home playoff game and first playoff win in school history as the Mules advanced to the NCAA-II National Quarterfinals. The offense was equally as good, breaking every passing record, and boasting four first-team All-MIAA and All-American players, inlcuding the MIAA Player of the Year, Region Player of the Year and Harlon Hill Award winner, quarterback Eric Czerniewski. The 2010 Mules also became the first team in NCAA-II history to have a 5,000-yard passer and a 1,000-yard rusher in the same season. Svoboda has experienced success at every level, winning national championships at the Division II and NAIA level as an assistant coach, as well as three bowl game appearances at the FBS Division I level. He boasts a combined 238-97 record as both a head and assistant coach. Svoboda came to UCM after three years as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach at Division I-FCS member Montana State, and helped the Bobcats to winning seasons each year there, as well as a top 25 final national ranking in 2009. He has also coached and recruited many great players during his career, including 36 All-Americans, a National Player of the Year, 12 NFL draft picks and signees, and numerous record-breaking quarterbacks.
helping lead the Bruins to three bowl games and only their seventh 10-win season ever in that span. He served as the program’s offensive coordinator in 2006. UCLA won the 2005 Sun Bowl and upset second-ranked cross-town rival USC in 2006. For his efforts, he was a finalist for the 2005 Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant coach at the Division I-FBS level. He coached UCLA quarterback Drew Olson for two seasons, helping him set numerous school passing records, ranking second in the nation in touchdown passes, fifth in pass efficiency, and eighth in the 2005 Heisman voting. Prior to his time at UCLA, he was at MIAA rival Northwest Missouri State for 10 seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach (1994-2003). He helped the Bearcats to back-to-back Division II National Championships in 1998 and 1999 while winning five consecutive MIAA titles and winning 41 MIAA games in a row. In a six-year span there, his prolific offenses averaged more than 450 yards and 40 points a game, leading the nation in scoring in both 1998 and 2000. His teams broke more than 70 team, MIAA, and NCAA offensive records, as well as a national mark of 15 wins in one season. He also earned American Football Coaches Magazine Offensive Coordinator of the Year honors in 1998. Svoboda spent seven years as the head coach at NAIA Nebraska Wesleyan. He went there in 1986 as the running backs coach before being named head coach the following season. As the head man from 1987-93, he led Nebraska Wesleyan to a 52-19 overall record, three conference titles, and three national playoff appearances. Svoboda was the first coach in school and conference history to win an NAIA playoff game. NWU was ranked in 52 of a possible 55 weeks during his seven year tenure, and he was named NIAC Coach of the Year three times. Nebraska Wesleyan has made five total playoff appearances in school history, three of them under Svoboda. A 1983 graduate of Northwestern College in Iowa, Svoboda began his coaching career at his alma mater that fall, winning a national championship at 14-0 as the running backs coach. He then moved to Dana College in Nebraska as offensive line and strength coach in 1984. He earned his master’s degree from Eastern New Mexico in 1986, serving as the running backs coach there in 1985 and helping them to a runner-up finish in the Lone Star Conference. The Denison, Iowa native and his wife, Susan, reside in Warrensburg.
Svoboda served as UCLA’s quarterbacks coach from 2004-06,
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2012 Central Missouri Football Media Guide