{"id":400063,"date":"2026-09-15T03:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/400063\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T03:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:04:08","slug":"kiefer-looks-to-strengthen-usf-mens-soccer-recruiting-through-florida-premier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/400063\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiefer looks to strengthen USF men’s soccer recruiting through Florida Premier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Coach Kiefer has led programs at South Florida, North Carolina State, and Grand Canyon University to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet 16 runs, two Elite Eight finishes, and five conference championships. ORACLE PHOTO \/ Audrey Koczanski<\/p>\n

South Florida men\u2019s soccer coach George Kiefer is taking a hands-on role in local recruiting through his work with Florida Premier FC<\/a>, a Tampa Bay youth soccer club.<\/p>\n

The local recruiting effort comes as Kiefer begins his second stint leading the Bulls. Kiefer returned<\/a> as head coach on Dec. 10, 2025, following two seasons at Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the 2026 season, Kiefer said assisting at the club\u2019s training sessions gave him opportunities to learn about potential recruits beyond their play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to build relationships,\u201d Kiefer said. \u201cI get to know what they\u2019re like. I get to know what their families are like.\u201d<\/p>\n

USF Athletics announced a partnership<\/a> with the club on Feb. 16. The arrangement includes Kiefer serving as a technical director for Florida Premier\u2019s Elite Clubs National League (ECNL<\/a>) team.<\/p>\n

The ECNL provides youth club competition at regional and national levels. Florida Premier\u2019s programs include boys and girls teams in the under-13 through under-19 age groups.<\/p>\n

In the partnership announcement, Kiefer said attracting the area\u2019s best players to stay home was his top priority and regular involvement with the club allows him to learn.<\/p>\n

Related: Takeaways: <\/a>USF\u2019s preparation shines through in late comeback over Army<\/a><\/p>\n

Kiefer described local and international recruiting as parts of his approach to building the team. His work at Florida Premier supports the local side of that effort.<\/p>\n

That route from Florida Premier to USF is one sophomore midfielder Luka Zujovic<\/a> took when he joined the Bulls in 2025, before Kiefer returned as head coach that December.<\/p>\n

The Tampa native attended Tampa Preparatory School<\/a>, a private school in downtown Tampa. He also played for Florida Premier before joining former coach Bob Butehorn\u2019s<\/a> 2025 recruiting class.<\/p>\n

Although listed as a midfielder, Zujovic played at left back, a defensive position on the left side of the field.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said getting on the field mattered more to him than the position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t imagine I\u2019d be playing left back,\u201d Zujovic said. \u201cI felt happy to play every game, doesn\u2019t matter to me where I was playing at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: Van Buren\u2019s late heroics lift USF past Army<\/a><\/p>\n

Zujovic\u2019s path from Florida Premier to USF illustrates the Bulls\u2019 connection to the surrounding community, a connection Kiefer wants strengthened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be a program that just says come to our games, you know?\u201d Kiefer said. \u201cI want it to be a relationship like it was when I was here [before].\u201d<\/p>\n

In an effort to recreate an experience from his first tenure where crowds filled with supporters made Corbett Stadium uncomfortable for visiting teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey feel really, really uncomfortable because the fans are on top of them engaged in the match,\u201d Kiefer said.<\/p>\n

As Kiefer looks to build community relationships, Zujovic suggested ways current players could contribute.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s attending youth games and getting to know players and parents as getting players close to that goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people start to gravitate more towards coming to our games, which will bring a bigger crowd,\u201d Zujovic said.<\/p>\n

Kiefer outreach plans also include fellow USF students. He identified campus recreation\u00a0 and student clubs as opportunities for his team to build relationships across campus<\/p>\n

His goal is for those connections to carry over to matches, bringing students and the Tampa Bay community out to support a team they know.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it becomes just a big family, where when we play a game, it\u2019s a lot of fun out there,\u201d Kiefer said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coach Kiefer has led programs at South Florida, North Carolina State, and Grand Canyon University to 14 NCAA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-400063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}