Union University Athletics

Jeff Lean played men’s soccer at Union from 1999-03 and is the first men’s soccer player to be inducted into the Union Sports Hall of Fame. He was named NAIA All-American once and NCCAA All-American three times. 

Lean still holds 10 goal keeping records at Union including most shutouts in a season (9), most career saves (293), and games played at goalkeeper (73) .

Lean was named NCCAA All-Region three times, NAIA All-Region once, and first team TranSouth All-Conference twice. 

After his playing career at Union, Lean was assistant coach for Union Hall of Fame coach Darin White for two seasons. During that time, Union won the NCCAA National Title and made the program’s first NAIA Region Tournament appearance. 

Lean then was named head coach at Crichton College and them Bacone College. He led both teams to the conference tournament, both firsts for the two programs. While at Crichton, he was the youngest college head coach at the age of 24 in the country. 

Lean also coach eight years for the Jackson Christian School boy’s and girl’s soccer programs. Of the 16 total seasons, he led nine teams to the state tournament, including a runner-up finish and two semifinal appearances. His combined record at JCS was 210-78-22 (.713). He earned numerous coach of the year awards in his eight  years, including the prestigious TSSAA A.F. Bridges Coach of the Year Award.

Lean owns his own business, Lean Management. He and his wife Emily (Union ‘03) have two sons, Liam and Elliott.