Tim McClements enters his second season on the Grand Canyon men's soccer staff in 2020, serving as the associate head coach.
A former Vanderbilt, SMU and Eastern Illinois head coach, McClements coming to GCU marked a reuniting with GCU head coach Schellas Hyndman.
In his first season with the Lopes, McClements assisted Hyndman to his 500th Division I win with a 3-0 win over Northern Kentucky in the 2019 season opener. He helped lead GCU to a 4-9-4 record in the 2019 season.
McClements spent four seasons as an assistant coach under Hyndman at SMU, and he succeeded him as the Mustangs head coach upon Hyndman's departure to coach in the MLS.
With the difficult task of following in Hyndman's footsteps as SMU head coach, McClements compiled a 68-46-16 record in seven seasons and led SMU to three consecutive NCAA tournaments.
While his best winning percentage came as SMU head coach, perhaps McClements' best coaching job came in his four seasons at Vanderbilt. Charged with rebuilding an underfunded Vandy program that only offered 2.1 scholarships, McClements' Commodores improved every season. His four-year turnaround culminated with a 9-7-2 record in 2005 that earned him Missouri Valley Coach of the Year honors and the program's highest conference finish. The university discontinued the program after the 2005 season.
McClements' parallels with Hyndman trace even further back. Both served as head coach at Eastern Illinois, with Hyndman leading the program from 1977 to 1983 and McClements doing so from 1996 to 1999. Former GCU assistant coach Cizo Mosnia also was Eastern Illinois head coach from 1984 to 1994.
As a player, McClements spent two seasons at Indiana, where he was a part of a program that won a national title in 1983 and was runner-up in 1984. He finished his collegiate career with three seasons at Wheaton College. He played three professional seasons, one in the American Professional Soccer League with New Jersey in 1988Â and two years in the National Professional Soccer League with the Dayton Dynamo in 1989 and the Chicago Power in 1990.
McClements attracted top players to his college programs, highlighted by future MLS players Ugo Ihemelu and Duke Hashimoto at SMU and Joe Germanese at Vanderbilt.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois (1991-92) and Midwestern State (1993) before earning his first head coaching position at NAIA powerhouse Baker University (1994-95). After four years at Eastern Illinois (1996-99), McClements completed his first two-year stint as an SMU assistant (2000-01) before taking over Vanderbilt (2002-05). He returned to SMU as an assistant (2006-07) before succeeding Hyndman as head coach (2008-14).
McClements has a daughter, Paige, and a son, Ian.