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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and currently the head coach of

League1 Alberta League1 Alberta (L1AB) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Alberta, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Alberta Soccer Association as a third division pro–am league in the Canadi ...

club St. Albert Impact, and the

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a public polytechnic and applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT offers approximately 120 credit programs leading to degrees, applied degrees, diplomas, and certifica ...

Men's Soccer. He coached the NAIT 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 (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

for five years, Paulus joined

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

as assistant coach and Academy technical director in 2011. He was appointed as FC Edmonton's head coach in July 2018. He left FC Edmonton in November 2020 to work as the Technical Director of Edmonton Scottish. He rejoined the NAIT Men's soccer team, and joined St. Albert Impact as head coach of both teams in 2023.

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 ...

before moving to

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. 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 (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

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

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

. 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 Canadian census, 2021 Census 629,941) is a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the eastern part of the City of Toronto. Its borders are Victoria Park Avenue to the west, Steeles Avenue (Toronto), Steele ...

and raised in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. He graduated from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

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

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

from

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

two years later. In 2017, Paulus graduated from

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public 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 Canadian ...

with a master's degree in

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. He served seven years in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and did a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

tour to Poland onboard

HMCS Halifax Several Canadian naval units have been named HMCS ''Halifax''. * was a that served in the Second World War. * is the lead ship for the s. Battle Honours Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy have earned the following battle honours; *Atlantic, 194 ...

''.'' 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 and nicknamed The Ex) was a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the grounds of Exhibition Place. Originally built for Canadian National ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

* Canadian College Athletic Association National Champions – 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulus, Jeff Living people Canadian men's soccer players 1969 births FC Edmonton coaches Men's association football players not categorized by position Soccer players from Scarborough, Ontario Canadian soccer coaches Canadian Premier League coaches 20th-century Canadian sportsmen