Jeffrey Paulus (born October 3, 1969) is a Canadian former semi-professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and former head coach of

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

. He coached the

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT provides careers programs in applied research, technical training, applied education, and learning designed to meet the deman ...

men's soccer team between 2004 and 2012 and was crowned Canadian College Athletic Association National Champions in his penultimate season. Having also worked for the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

for five years, Paulus joined

as assistant coach and Academy technical director in 2011. He was appointed as FC Edmonton's head coach in July 2018.

Playing career

Paulus played hockey and soccer as a child. Turning his sole attention to soccer in his teens, he played for local clubs St. Andrews, Maple Leaf and Woburn. He also played and coached while serving in the military in

The Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

before moving to

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Coaching career

Early career

Paulus joined the

as head coach of the men's soccer program in August 2004. Paulus and his team were named Canadian College Athletic Association National Champions in October 2011. He left the position in November 2012 after eight seasons with the NAIT Ooks. In September 2006, Paulus also joined the

to coach national team prospects at the Prairies National Training Centre in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. He worked with players aged between 14 and 17 for five years until his departure in December 2011.

FC Edmonton

Upon his departure from the Canadian Soccer Association, Paulus joined

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

club

on a full-time basis. While acting as assistant coach to Colin Miller, he also worked in the Academy as technical director. When the FC Edmonton senior team ceased operations in 2017, Paulus continued to lead the club's youth section. On July 4, 2018, Paulus was named as the head coach of FC Edmonton after the club was re-founded to compete in the

. He was then made the interim general manager of FC Edmonton on November 21, 2019, replacing Jay Ball. The club also announced that he would remain as the head coach for the 2020 Canadian Premier League season. Jeff Paulus stepped down as head coach of FC Edmonton on September 21, 2020.

Personal life

Paulus was born in

Scarborough, Ontario Scarborough (; 2021 Census 629,941) is a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated atop the Scarborough Bluffs in the eastern part of the city. Its borders are Victoria Park Avenue to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north, Rouge R ...

and raised in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He graduated from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

in 2002 with a degree in History and Sociology, and earned a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order for ...

from

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level. The enabling legislation consists of the Acadia ...

two years later. In 2017, Paulus graduated from

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

with a master's degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

. He served seven years in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

and did a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

tour to Poland onboard HMCS Halifax''.'' Paulus was a supporter of former

club the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

. As a child, he would be a ball boy for the team at the

Exhibition Stadium Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National Exhi ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

* Canadian College Athletic Association National Champions – 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulus, Jeff Living people Canadian soccer players 1969 births FC Edmonton coaches Association footballers not categorized by position Soccer players from Toronto Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto Canadian soccer coaches