| Career Accolades |
| • Guided FHSU to GAC regular season (2019) and tournament (2021) championships |
| • Holds a record of 40-19-11 in 4 seasons at Fort Hays State |
| • Holds an overall record of 217-61-25 in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach (7 as a men's head coach, 8 as a women's head coach) |
| • Coached FHSU to NCAA National Quarterfinals appearance in 2021 |
| • 3x NAIA National Champion at Martin Methodist College (2005 & 2007 women, 2013 men) |
| • 3x NAIA National Coach of the Year (2005 & 2007 Women’s, 2013 Men’s) |
| • 4x Region Coach of the Year (2x Mid-Atlantic-NAIA, 2x Central-NCAA) |
| • 2x NAIA Region XI Coach of the Year |
| • 8x Conference Coach of the Year (7x TransSouth - NAIA, 1x GAC - NCAA) |
| • 17 Conference Championships (regular season and tournament combined) |
| • 3x All-America and 4x All-Conference performer as a student-athlete |
| • 2x Mid-South Conference Player of the Year as a student-athlete |
Gerry Cleary enters his fifth season as head coach of the men's soccer program at Fort Hays State in 2023. Cleary guided the Tigers to Great American Conference regular season (2019) and tournament (2021) championships within his first four seasons. He holds a record of 40-19-11 at FHSU.
Cleary became the second head coach in FHSU men's soccer program history on January 15, 2019. He came to Hays with three national titles to his credit, winning three NAIA championships at Martin Methodist College (one men's, two women's). Cleary now has seven seasons under his belt as a men's head coach at the collegiate level with an overall record of 80-34-14. He was a women's collegiate head coach for eight years and compiled a record of 137-27-11. In 15 years of coaching both men's and women's collegiate programs, Cleary holds a combined record of 217-61-25 (.757) with 17 conference championships (regular season and tournament combined)..
In addition to guiding FHSU to conference regular season and tournament championships within his first four seasons, Cleary received GAC Coach of the Year honors in 2019. He and his coaching staff also earned United Soccer Coaches Central Region Staff of the Year in both 2019 and 2021. He coached four Tigers to All-America status, produced 18 All-Region selections, and 34 all-conference selections. He has coached three GAC Offensive Player of the Year honorees, along with two GAC Defender of the Year selections, one GAC Midfielder of the Year selection, and one GAC Freshman of the Year selection.
Cleary served as a head soccer coach at Martin Methodist College (now University of Tennessee Southern) for 11 seasons, guiding the women's program for eight seasons (2003-10) before taking over the men's program for three seasons (2011-13). He navigated the women's squad to national championships in 2005 and 2007 before winning the title with the men's team in 2013. Cleary became the first coach ever in collegiate soccer to win national championships with both a women's and men's program at the same school.
As head coach of the women's program at Martin Methodist, Cleary compiled a record of 137-27-11 (.814) over his eight seasons guiding the program. His teams won seven consecutive conference regular season and tournament titles from 2004 to 2010. As head coach of the men's program for three seasons, Cleary compiled a record of 40-15-3 (.716) and guided the team to the Southern States Athletic Conference title in 2013.
Cleary earned NAIA National Coach of the Year honors three times, twice for women's soccer (2005 and 2007) and once for men's soccer (2013). He also earned NSCAA NAIA National Coach of the Year twice, NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year twice, and NAIA Region XI Coach of the Year twice. He was the TransSouth Athletic Conference Coach of the Year seven times in his tenure as the women's coach at Martin Methodist.
Following his third national championship season at Martin Methodist, Cleary moved on to serve as an assistant coach for four years at the NCAA Division I level at California State University-Bakersfield, where he assisted Richie Grant. During his time in Bakersfield, he also served as Director of Coaching for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Club Central California Aztecs.
Cleary played for Richie Grant at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee from 1995-98, where he was a three-time All-America and four-time All Mid-South Conference selection. Cleary twice earned Mid-South Conference Player of the Year honors and helped his university to three conference championships.
Cleary received his bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education from Lambuth University in 1999. He then earned a master's degree in Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision from Christian Brothers University in 2002, where he also served as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's soccer programs. Working under head coach Gareth O'Sullivan at Christian Brothers, they won eight Gulf South Conference Championships with both programs combined, finishing with a Division II Women's National Championship in 2002.
Cleary has also coached Rocket City United in the National Premier Soccer League, located in Huntsville, Alabama. Cleary's coaching tips have been published multiple times in World Soccer Magazine and World Class Coaching – the world's leading resource magazine for soccer coaches.
