Coach Joe Zakowics, the NCCAA Mideast Region Coach of the Year in 2008, begins his 10th season as the Cougars' head men's soccer coach in 2009.  Last season, Zakowicz guided the Cougars to a 12-8-3 record, an NCCAA Mideast Regional championship, and a third-place finish in the NCCAA National Tournament.

     In 2007, Zakowicz led Mid-Continent University to a 15-8-2 record and led the Cougars to TSAC Tournament and NAIA Region XI Championships.  MCU went on to the NAIA National Sweet 16 before losing 5-1 to Lindsey Wilson.  In 2005, Zakowicz also earned KIAC and NCCAA Mid-South Region Coach of the Year honors, guiding the Cougars to the NCCAA National Championship and KIAC regular season and tournament titles.

     Zakowicz's record at MCU is 136-56-14 and his career record, which includes 9 years as a college men's soccer coach (146-67-15) and four seasons as a college women's soccer coach (40-29-1), is 186-96-15.  MCU's best season record was a 19-3-0 mark in 2001, and MCU has won at least 15 matches in six of Zakowicz' nine seasons.  Under Zakowicz' guidance, Mid-Continent has appeared in the NAIA National Tournament twice and the NCCAA National Tournament five times and won the 2005 NCCAA National championship and the 2001 and 2008 Mideast Region championships.  Mid-Continent has placed second in the NAIA regionals once (2006) and the NCCAA regionals three times (2002, 2003, and 2004).

     MCU also has experienced considerable success in its conference, winning the 2007 TSAC Tournament championship, the 2006 TSAC regular-season title, and the KIAC Tournament championships in 2002, 2003, and 2005 and the KIAC regular-season crowns in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005.

     Prior to coaching, Zakowicz also has enjoyed success as a player at Bartlesville Wesleyan College, now called Oklahoma Wesleyan.  In his previous nine years as a college men's coach, Coach Zakowicz has trained with Hank Duut (Trainer/Head Coach), Fortuna Sittard of the Dutch Premier League, Jan Janssen (Youth Trainer/Coach) for Fortuna Sittard, Sef Vergoosen (Technical Director) for MVV Maastricht, Guojon Poroarsson (Trainer/Head Coach) for the Akranes Futbol Club in Iceland, and also Logi Olafsson, the coach of the Iceland National Team.

     Joe Zakowicz, a native of Rochester, New York, is married to Darla Zakowicz, Mid-Continent's Vice-President for Student Affairs.  He serves the university in the dual role of soccer coach and Associate Vice President for Athletics Advancement, a role he assumed September 3, 2008, after serving as Athletics Director.  The couple resides in Mayfield with their college-age daughter, Alisha.