As Drexel prepares for their sports seasons to end, a few changes are being made to the athletics’ coaching staff. With new hirings and now-empty positions, it will be interesting to see how these changes will impact these Drexel teams, including golf, softball and women’s soccer.
Drexel’s head golf coach Ben Feld, who has been leading the team for the last nine seasons, has decided to take a step away from collegiate coaching. Feld was named Drexel’s head coach in May of 2016, after serving as the team’s interim head coach prior. Feld himself played four years of golf at Drexel, and was a two-time captain. He graduated in 2013, and later received his master’s at Drexel in 2016.
Under his leadership, the golf team has thrived. With eight players named to All-CAA teams, seven CAA All-Tournament team selections in his tenure, a total of 19 events won, and five City 6 Championships under his belt, it is clear that Feld has established himself as a celebrated head coach. Additionally, his players have gone to play in three major championships, two Professional Golfers’ Association of America Tours, as well as numerous events on the PGA and the PGA-owned Korn Ferry Tour.
Feld is leaving the program to spend more time at home, seizing every opportunity to make memories with his family. Coach Feld’s time serving as head coach has made an impressionable impact on the achievements of the Drexel golf team. As Drexel continues to search for his replacement, it will be interesting to see how the upcoming seasons for the team will be impacted by his absence.
The golf team is not the only Drexel sports team that is searching for a new head coach. Katie Jansson, the head coach for Drexel softball, will not return next season after coaching since the 2022 season. Unlike the golf team, the softball team has seen varied success in the past few seasons. Their last winning season was in Jansson’s first, 2022, where the team finished 24-23. In 2023, they ended their season with an overall record of 15-30, before taking a further step back with an overall record of 5-41 in 2024.
Prior to her time coaching at Drexel, Jansson finished 51-131 in her four seasons in West Philadelphia and has a 25-70 record in the Coastal Athletic Association play. Changes made to coaching may help the team in seasons to come. With standout players, such as freshman Kylah Reading, the team might have a shot at making the best out of these new changes, as a search for Jansson’s replacement has begun.
While new hires for head coaches are being searched for, the women’s soccer team has welcomed Kendra Jones as a new assistant coach. The Pennsylvania native began her collegiate soccer career at Villanova and American University as a midfielder/forward. Between both programs, Jones played a total of 55 games, scored a total of four goals, an assist and nine points.
After playing at Villanova, she played professionally in Australia, the Czech Republic and in the United States. Her coaching career started at Washington & Jefferson, where she was head coach, compiling a 23-24-13 overall record and collecting a 15-10-9 record in the President’s Athletic Conference. Prior to coming to Drexel, she also acted as assistant coach at Elizabethtown College, leading the Blue Jays to a 9-5-4 record, and earning a spot in the Landmark Conference Championship tournament.
Additionally, Jones also spent a season as an assistant at Niagara, where she helped lead the team to a 4-4-2 record, as well as reached the program’s seventh straight MAAC tournament. The experience and knowledge of both player and coach Jones will bring to Drexel will help elevate the women’s soccer team, which ended this past overall season 4-9-4.