By Robert Wilson
Kevin Johns is the most successful youth coach in Mississippi Soccer Association history with 24 state championships for the Jackson Futbol Club/Mississippi Rush and also has two decades of men’s college soccer coaching experience at Mississippi College.
Johns will now bring that championship level coaching to Jackson Prep.
He replaces Jon Marcus Duncan, who resigned to go work for his father, Jimmy Duncan, after winning 30 boys and girls state championships in 25 seasons at Prep and becoming the winningest high school soccer coach in Mississippi history.
Johns – a Clinton High alumnus who played on the 1992 Belhaven College NAIA national championship team – has been coaching with the Jackson Futbol Club since 1993 and has been director of coaching for JFC/Mississippi Rush since 2010. He was the men’s soccer coach at MC from 2003 to 2025 and was the Conference Coach of the Year four times and has 222 collegiate career wins. Johns also was the assistant coach and assistant general manager for the minor league professional team Jackson Chargers for two years.
“I had heard about Jon Marcus possibly stepping away from Prep after this past season,” Johns said. “I have known Jon Marcus for over 28 years. I have known his family also, great family and great people. His dad is someone I always enjoyed spending time with and chatting with about life and soccer. I actually coached Jon Marcus on a ODP team in Cocoa Beach, Florida, back when he was in high school. Jon Marcus was a very good player, a very talented athlete.”
Johns knows about Prep’s rich traditions of success on the field and as a school.
“Prep’s long history of success on the field and in the classroom really made me interested in looking at the job,” Johns said. “Also, I thought it would be a great move for my family (wife Emily and 7-year-old son Davis). To be a part of the Prep family for me and my family. I did some chatting with people about Prep and friends of mine that I consider mentors of mine, and everything was pointing me to really look into the possibility of becoming a coach at Prep. I spent some time praying about the decision and chatting with my family about this great opportunity. After meeting with the leadership at Prep and (Prep athletic director) Will Crosby a few times, I felt like this was a great move for me and my family to join the Prep staff.”
Johns knows expectations are high for this program.
“We are at Prep, and we represent Prep athletics,” Johns said. “Our goal will always be to be finish at the top. But I also want to make sure our players enjoy the journey and the process of getting to the top. We will strive to be a team that grows during this process and always believes in each other while we push for our success. I look forward to the challenges ahead and to continue the successes of Prep soccer that Jon Marcus has installed in this program during his time here at Prep.”
“I’ve known Kevin a long, long time,” Duncan said. “He took our Mississippi ODP soccer team to Cocoa Beach the summer of ’93. He was my coach, and it was there that I realized Kevin was a players’ coach. He was always looking out for what was best for the team and each player. Kevin pushed me that summer at ODP camp and I was fortunate enough to make the ODP regional team. My summers of college were spent playing for the Jackson Chargers where Kevin was an assistant coach. I always admired how passionate he was about the game of soccer. When I started working at Prep in 2000, he immediately approached me about helping with JFC. He saw my enthusiasm as a young coach and wanted me involved as soon as I was ready. We’ve kept a great relationship throughout the years. A few Prep graduates have gone on to play for Kevin at Mississippi College. I have full confidence that Kevin will keep the winning tradition going at Jackson Prep. He was the first coach to call me and inquire about the job when he found out I was leaving. We had a great 15-minute conversation and right there and then I knew he was the perfect fit for the job. Kevin has great respect and admiration throughout Central Mississippi and the entire state from soccer coaches. I’m so happy for him and can’t wait to see the heights that he will take the program.”
“We are very excited about Coach Johns taking over both soccer programs at Prep,” Prep athletic director Will Crosby said. “From the soccer standpoint, his record and resume speak for themselves. One of the things that’s special about Kevin is how familiar he already is with the Prep family. He has coached so many Prep students through JFC and Rush, many of our families already know him. There was such a positive reaction when we made the announcement about him taking over, it was a reassuring feeling knowing we got the right guy.”
Johns started playing soccer at an early age and realized he wanted to be a coach as a teenager.
“I started playing soccer when i was six or seven years ago, my older brother played and was just following in his footsteps,” Johns said. “Once I got involved, a lot of my friends were playing, and I realized it was the sport I enjoyed the most.
“I always knew I wanted to be a coach, I really realized it around the age of 17 or 18. Attending Belhaven college made me truly fall in love with soccer. It made me more passionate about the game. Peter Fuller, who was the head coach at Belhaven College, was someone I really learned from, and he asked me to help coach a team with him when I was 20. No question, he is the coach who helped me fall in love with the coaching profession. Pete won a NAIA National Championship with Belhaven and University of Mobile, quite an accomplishment.”
Johns deflects credit from himself for the success.
“My coaching success is down to my love and passion for soccer and being blessed with great kids and great players that I have coached,” Johns said. “I think you need to have a belief in your players, and they must have confidence that as their coach I have faith in them as people and players. I have always believed that if your players understand you care for them as people and players, they will work harder for you and the program. Team is always an important word for me as a coach. No one is more important than the team and the program. You don’t do things right once in a while, you strive to do them right all the time. That builds a strong culture.”
“Kevin Johns has had a monumental impact on my life both as a coach and as a leader,” said Daniel Lang, who played at Prep and played for Johns at MC from 2011-2015 when the Choctaws were nationally ranked and went to several NCAA tournaments. “I think one of the most important traits her has as a coach besides having a championship mentality is his relationship with his players. He is more of a father figure for his players than anything. Obviously, results matter but he cares more about their future than the results. I think that is why he has had so much success over the years, and he will continue to win at Prep. He won’t settle for anything less than their best and that no one person is more important than the entire team. It was an honor to play for him and win championships with him at Mississippi College. I’m excited to support him as he continues the championship tradition at Jackson Prep.”
“Coach Kevin is a great guy,” said Rhodes Morgan, who will be a senior soccer player this year for Prep. “He’s been around my family as long as I can remember. I have no doubt in his coaching abilities. My brother (Mason Morgan) played under Coach Kevin at Mississippi College. I’m so confident with Coach Kevin that we will win the state championship this year.”
“Kevin taught me about how there is more to life than soccer,” said Maddie Caldwell, who finished her career at Prep last season, played for Johns for the Rush from 2020 to 2022 and will be playing for Holmes Community College this fall. “He always said there comes a time when soccer should be important but not to lose sight of your other priorities like God, family, and friends. He taught me about the fundamentals but more importantly about the friendships and ultimately having fun while doing it. Having Kevin has truly changed my soccer career because not only have I learned to be disciplined as a player but now as I am stepping into a coaching role this year for two teams.”
Duncan, 48, has 862 wins (474 girls and 388 boys) and 30 state titles (15 boys and 15 girls) in 25 seasons. He has an 83 percent winning percentage for his career.
Duncan passed Karl Friedrich of Harrison Central in August of last year as the winningest coach in Mississippi history last fall. Friedrich finished with 831 victories in 32 seasons at Harrison Central. He retired in 2012 and started Harrison Central’s soccer program in 1982. He coached boys from 1982-2012 and girls from 1997-2012.
Duncan, a Prep and University of Mobile graduate, started his coaching career in 2000.
Duncan’s father, Jimmy Duncan, called him in the summer of 2000 when Jon Marcus was working day camps at UMS-Wright High School in Mobile. Jon Marcus called then Prep athletic director Dwayne Cupples, went on two interviews and was offered the job. Twenty-five years later, Duncan is the most successful soccer coach in Mississippi history.
“The timing was good for me on the move to a new career,” Duncan said. “With (his youngest daughter) Abby graduating and headed down to play at Jones, I really felt like it was time to move on. Jackson Prep has been nothing short of outstanding for me and my family. I was able to coach both of my daughters, Josie (a junior at Mississippi State) and Abby (graduates from Prep in May). My wife Tammy has played a major role in my success because of her support for this program. My heart will always be full with Prep red and blue. When I took this job 25 years ago, I never imagined how rewarding it was going to be. The relationships with faculty, players, parents, and coaching staffs have been unbelievable. Jackson Prep is a great place to work. The commitment from the school in regard to athletics, academics, and the arts is second to none. I can’t thank the people at Prep enough for what they have done for me and my family over the past 25 years. I’ll always be a coach at heart. I’m not retiring from coaching. I have plenty of energy, which is why I feel that this is a good time for me to explore another career. I’ll keep that door open to still coach. But for now, I need to put it on the side and focus my energy into something else. Athletic director Will Crosby and head of school Lawrence Coco found a great replacement for me. The relationships I’ve built through the coaching ranks will last a lifetime and for that I’m so thankful.”
Unlike previous years, Prep and the rest of the MAIS will not compete in girls soccer this fall. The private school organization has moved that sport to the spring to try to spread out girls sports over the course of the school year. MAIS boys soccer will continue to start after football season is over in late November.
So the Johns era will officially begin play several months from now.
