Head Coach Kos Donev Action Photos

Kos Donev enters his 22nd season as head coach of Florida Atlantic University's men's soccer team and looks build on the 11-7-2 record accumulated in 2007. Donev guided the Owls to a 6-0-1 Atlantic Soccer Conference mark and the program's first ever conference title. The veteran coach will lead the team into its first season of play in the Mid American Conference (MAC) in 2008.

Donev came to FAU as a student-athlete in 1985. He soon made the transition from player to coach and has been instrumental in the evolution of the FAU soccer program. He has witnessed and, in many cases, overseen the move from NAIA to NCAA Division II, the addition of women's soccer, the move to NCAA Division I and affiliation with the A-Sun, and the construction of five on-campus lighted soccer fields.

After assuming the helm, Donev quickly guided the Owls to a NCAA Division II national ranking in his fourth season, second as a full-time coach. In the team's third year of Atlantic-Sun membership, he guided the squad to a conference tournament appearance and participated in nine A-Sun Tournaments in the past 11 seasons. A one year stint in the Atlantic Sun Conference proved fruitful as the Owls won their first conference title. Donev now faces the challenge of bringing the Owls into the MAC.

Donev has surpassed several milestones as a coach. He was the first FAU soccer coach to complete more than three seasons as the field general and begins his 22nd season in 2008. He has coached 378 career men's matches.

FAU's fourth soccer coach since the program's inception in 1980, Donev has an overall and FAU record of 177-184-17. The 177 wins are the most victories tallied by any soccer coach in the program's history. Along the way, the Owls climbed into the NCAA Division II Top-20 poll in 1989 for the first time since joining the NCAA in 1983. FAU returned to the poll in 1991 with a ranking as high as ninth and was again ranked in 1992 (seventh).

He was selected as the 1989 Florida College Men's Soccer Coach-of-the-Year by the Florida Intercollegiate Soccer Coaches Association just four years after he entered the profession as a student coach at FAU in 1986. Following the 1986 season, Donev was elevated to interim coach, and in 1988, he assumed the position on a full-time basis.

As part of the University's move to Division I, FAU added women's soccer in 1991. Donev was instrumental in both adding the team and developing the women's team to a top-15 squad. That year also marked the first season FAU played its matches on campus with the addition of two lighted fields, which Donev helped plan and design. With Donev again overseeing construction, two more fields were added for the 1996 season. A fifth field, FAU's main field, was completed in 1999, and will begin its fifth season as the home of both the men's and women's soccer games.

Since 1993, Donev has focused his energies on the men's program to make it as successful as possible. He has witnessed the move to Division I and the eight-year affiliation with the Atlantic Sun Conference. He has had 38 players named to Atlantic Sun All-Conference teams, and led the team to its first post-season appearance in the conference tournament in 1995. Donev guided his team to the championship game in 1997 after a one-year absence and fell in the semifinals in 1998. FAU completed two shutouts in the A-Sun Tournament before falling in the championship game in 1999 and in 2000 lost a 0-1 semifinal game in overtime to the number one seed. In 2001 the team again competed in the conference tournament under a new format. With only four teams competing, the Owls faced the number one seed and were defeated in their fifth consecutive tournament appearance. In 2003, the team returned to conference championship game, this time falling to UCF 3-1.

An outstanding collegiate player, Donev was a three-time letter winner at Flagler College, where he earned NAIA All-District 25 honors as a midfielder. He then transferred to FAU in 1985 to finish his collegiate playing career.

The 1987 FAU graduate was born in the former Yugoslavia, where he lived until moving to Ft. Lauderdale in 1975 (age 13). He was a prep standout at South Plantation High School in Ft. Lauderdale.

Donev currently resides in Boca Raton with his wife, the former Claudia Alvarez, and their sons Kristian Brian, Dereck Brennan and daughter Shannon Lorraine.