One of the most respected coaches in North Texas, DeLong has served as the head varsity coach at Jesuit Dallas since 1980 and enters the 2020 season with 597 wins during his illustrious career. Coach DeLong is the 7th winningest active head coach in the nation and is the second-winningest coach in the history of Texas boys’ high school soccer.
The four-time Dallas Metroplex Coach of the Year (1988, 2006, 2010, 2017) and 1991 Region III High School Coach of the Year, DeLong has guided the Rangers to 15 TCIL soccer state championships during his 34 years at Jesuit Dallas.
In 2010, he led the Rangers to the UIL 5A state championship with a penalty kick victory over Strake Jesuit, helping the Rangers become the first private school to ever claim a UIL state championship title across all sports. Jesuit ended the season as the top-ranked team in the nation according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Rangers repeated the feat in 2017, defeating Texas top-ranked Arlington Sam Houston, 2-1, in overtime of the championship game to become the School’s first athletic program with multiple UIL state championships. Jesuit Dallas closed the season ranked third in the nation according to USA Today.
Throughout his time at the helm of the Ranger soccer program, DeLong has mentored several professional athletes and Jesuit Dallas Hall of Famers. DeLong coached Puerto Rico national team member Scott Jones ’02, who was drafted in the second round of the 2007 Major League Soccer (MLS) Superdraft, U.S. National Team member and nine-year MLS veteran Kenny Cooper ’03, 2012 MLS draftee Ian Kalis ’08 and Kingsley Bryce ’11, who was selected with the 28th pick of the 2015 MLS draft by the Chicago Fire. Entering the 2018 season, DeLong has coached 12 Jesuit Dallas Hall of Famers.
In addition to his coaching duties, DeLong has served as the head cross country coach and has been a varsity football assistant since 1987. He also serves as the chairman of the Jesuit Dallas physical education department.
Licensed to coach by the USSF in 1971, DeLong has also coached a number of top club teams including seven North Texas State Club champions, five Region III club champions and two runner-up teams in the National Club championship. Prior to his career in coaching, DeLong played professionally for the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League (NASL) for six seasons in the 1970s, and the Houston Summit of the Major Indoor Soccer League, reaching the MISL title game in 1980.
A native of Carroll, Iowa, DeLong played soccer collegiately at San Diego State University and earned a bachelor’s degree from UT-Dallas. He and his wife Diana reside in Dallas.
