Claudio Arias Position: Head Coach

Claudio Arias enters his sixth season as head coach at Texas A&M International University. The 2008 Heartland Conference Coach of the Year has compiled an impressive 50-34-5 overall record at TAMIU and has the program on the verge of stepping up to NCAA tournament contender status after a breakthrough 2008 campaign. His career record through eight seasons as a head coach stands at 93-72-6.

A 1-1 tie against Heartland Conference power St. Edward's in the 2008 finale propelled the Dustdevils to a third place finish in the final conference regular season standings. TAMIU finished with a 12-5-1 overall record and 5-4-1 conference mark in its first season competing as an active NCAA Division II member.

The Dustdevils established a school-record nine-game winning streak last season. The team finished with a 9-1-1 mark over its last eleven games after struggling to a 3-4 start.

The landmark 2008 campaign garnered TAMIU national attention. The Dustdevils finished ranked fourth in the final NSCAA/adidas South Central Region poll.

Arias led the Dustdevils to a 14-5-1 overall record and their second straight Red River Athletic Conference title in his first season at the helm in 2004. That team advanced to the championship game of the NAIA Region VI Tournament against Southern Nazarene.

Arias guided the Dustdevils to a 10-8-1 mark in 2005, marking the team's fourth straight winning season.

TAMIU made the jump from the Red River Athletic Conference and NAIA to the NCAA Division II ranks in 2006. Arias paved the way to last season's accomplishments by guiding the team to a 14-16-2 overall record in two seasons as a provisional Division II member.

A total of 18 players have earned all-conference honors under Arias' tutelage. Daniel Hermosillo was a two-time Red River Athletic Conference first-team pick and one-time NAIA All-American with Arias guiding the program.

TAMIU made a major haul of last season's Heartland Conference postseason awards. Six student-athletes earned All-Heartland Conference honors with Albert Escovar, Roy Hernández and Greg Mulamba earning first-team honors.

Mulamba ended his outstanding career by being selected as conference Player of the Year and Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year. Escovar earned first-team Daktronics South Central All-Region honors and was selected as Heartland Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Prior to arriving at TAMIU, Arias served four seasons as head coach at Southern Wesleyan University (SWU) in South Carolina. He led SWU to the 2003 Georgia-Alabama-Carolinas Conference title, with a 2-1 overtime win over nationally-ranked (#2) Auburn-Montgomery in the semifinals.

Arias played collegiate soccer for Bryan College in Tennessee where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. He also holds a master's in health and exercise science from Furman University.

Arias played professionally for the Shreveport-Bossier Lions of the USISL and the Greenville Lions of the PDL as well as for Deportes Concepción in Chile. He holds a Premier National Diploma with the NSCAA and a "A" license with the USSF.

Arias and his wife Nicole are the proud parents of three daughters; Rebecca Nicole, Andrea Belan and Sarah Elizabeth and an infant son, Christian.