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 2027 season with 696 wins during his illustrious career. Coach DeLong is the third-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 and a pair of UIL state championships (2010, 2017). Following each of the UIL title victories, DeLong earned consensus honors as Texas Coach of the Year.
On Feb. 4, 2020, DeLong won his 600th career game with a 1-0 victory over Plano High School, becoming just the 19th high school soccer coach and third in Texas to reach the 600-win plateau. In 2021, DeLong was inducted into the Jesuit Dallas Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2022, DeLong was named to the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches and Officials (TASCO) Hall of Honor.
In 2010, DeLong 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) and the ESPN Rise rankings. 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. From 1988-91, DeLong led Jesuit Dallas to a Texas state-record 72-game (69-0-3) unbeaten streak.
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 2027 season, DeLong has coached 14 Jesuit Dallas Hall of Fame inductees.
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.
