Scott Marksberry enters his fourth season as head coach of the men's soccer program after heading the women's squad from 2011 through 2012.
While his first two seasons at the helm hovered around .500, Marksberry led the Golden Eagles to a breakout season in 2015, which produced its best campaign since 2004 and tied for the most wins since 2001 (14) with a 13-6-1 mark. JBU posted 10 clean sheets, the most since 1990. With a landmark 1-0 win at No. 3 Oklahoma Wesleyan, John Brown earned a victory over the highest-ever ranked opponent ever in program history. Despite a difficult 2-1 extra-time setback in the Sooner Athletic semifinals, the team finished with an 8-1-0 (.888) SAC record, the best single-season mark in program history.
During his tenure at JBU, Marksberry has coached 29 Commissioner’s Honor Roll players, 14 Academic All-Conference honorees, 12 All-Conference winners, six Scholar-Athletes, eight SAC Player of the Week winners and one NAIA National Player of the week honorees.
Prior to his arrival at John Brown, Marksberry spent the 2008-10 seasons as the head varsity girls' soccer coach at Wheaton Academy in Wheaton, Ill. There, Marksberry accumulated three extremely successful seasons which included a 2009 2A Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state championship. For his efforts in 2009, he was named the National Christian School Athletic Association (NCSAA) Coach of the Year.
While the head coach at Wheaton, Marksberry produced one Parade All-American and four NCSAA All-Americans while landing a player on the All-State squad, six on the All-Sectional team and an impressive 12 players were given All-Conference accolades. Marksberry amassed a 50-12-3 (76.9 percent) record over three seasons.
From 2006-07, Marksberry returned to his alma mater at Union (Tenn.) where he held the position of assistant men's soccer coach. While in Jackson, the Bulldogs went 18-13-3, earning a spot in the NAIA Regional Tournament. Union boasted an impressive No. 9 in the nation ranking during the 2006 campaign.
Marksberry began his time in the coaching profession after graduation, spending three and a half years as the Assistant Director of Operations at Memphis Athletic Ministries, an organization dedicated to providing hope and a future to the at-risk youth of inner-city Memphis, Tenn. through the vehicle of sport. While under his administration, the programs saw a 250 percent increase in participation as Marksberry undertook the responsibilities of marketing, scheduling and managing leagues in over 20 locations around Memphis.
The Union men's soccer record book is riddled with Marksberry's name as, during his time as a collegiate athlete, he found himself landing in numerous top-10 categories in program history. The three-year captain holds the top spot in career games started (87) and games played (89), while finishing with the seventh-best career goals tallied (23) and fourth-best career assists mark (25). Marksberry was also an impressive student, gaining National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Scholar-Athlete nods in 2000 and 2001.
On the pitch awards accumulated by Marksberry included an NCCAA All-America first team nomination in 2001 after earning honorable mention accolades the year prior. He graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts degree in recreation and sports, notching the highest grade point average among students in his major.
In order to stay at the top of his game at Union, Marksberry trained during the summers with the Botafogo FC in Riberao Preto, Brazil. Botafogo competes in the Campeonato Paulista which is the top professional soccer league in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.
In July 2015, Marksberry completed his NSCAA Premier Diploma.
Marksberry and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Siloam Springs with their two sons, Wyatt and Caleb, and their daughter, Emerie.
