Claudio Arias Position: Head Coach

Claudio Arias is a proven winner who has steadily improved the fortunes of Texas A&M International University soccer during his long tenure in Laredo. The 2011 season will be his eighth campaign as head men's soccer coach and second season as head women's soccer coach.

Last season was a testament to Arias' leadership abilities with the veteran coach directing a men's team that had been in contention for a league title to its first Heartland Conference Championship. The Dustdevils secured a share of the title with a monumental 2-1 home win over St. Edward's on Halloween night before clinching the deal with a 1-0 road win over Newman.

On the women's side, Arias directed a team that has had little success in recent years to a four-win season while also instilling a new sense of competiveness. One measure of that competiveness is reflected in the stat that TAMIU cut a 109-9 scoring deficit against its opponents in 2009 to a 39-20 deficit in Arias' first season of guiding the Dustdevil women.

Arias has compiled an impressive 66-49-10 record in seven seasons as head coach for the TAMIU men and a 109-87-11 overall record in 11 seasons as a men's head coach.

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 established the foundation of a winning NCAA program by guiding the team to a 14-16-2 overall record in two seasons as a provisional Division II member.

Arias was named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in 2008 after leading the Dustdevils to a 12-5-1 overall record and 5-4-1 league mark in the team's first season competing as an active NCAA Division II member. TAMIU established a school-record nine-game winning streak in 2008, finishing the campaign with a 9-1-1 mark over its last eleven games.

A total of 24 players have earned all-conference honors under Arias' tutelage. Two of the most notable of these standouts are Daniel Hermosillo and Greg Mulamba.

Hermosillo was a two-time Red River Athletic Conference first-team pick and one-time NAIA All-American under Arias. Mulamba was a two-time first-team All-Heartland Conference pick who ended his outstanding career in 2008 by being selected as conference Player of the Year and Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year.

A school-record seven players earned All-Heartland Conference honors last season, with Soamy Bautista, Leonard Ramos and Luís Salas earning first-team honors and Alejandro De la Fuente, Julian Hierro, Kristian Qunitana and Abel Villavicencio earning second-team honors.

Baustista ended his career as a four-time All Heartland selectee and Hierro a two-time All Heartland pick.

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 a son, Christian Hugo.