ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s soccer program welcomes Kelly Altman to its coaching staff, head coach Jeremy Fishbein announced Thursday. Altman, an Albuquerque native, joins the Lobos from Valparaiso University where he served as an assistant coach from 2013-17.
“We are really excited to have Kelly join our staff,” Fishbein said. “Kelly is a tremendous coach, mentor and recruiter who will help make our program better. He comes from a family passionate about soccer and is well-known to our community. It is great to have another New Mexican join our staff.”
Altman was raised in Albuquerque and graduated from Albuquerque Academy in 2001 before pursuing his collegiate career at Trinity University in San Antonio from 2001-04. He helped lead his squad to the NCAA Division III National Title as a junior in 2003 before captaining the team in 2004. In his final two seasons, the team set an unprecedented 43-straight win record, going 24-0 in 2003 and kicking off the 2004 season 19-0. The 43-win streak set the all-NCAA division record (divisions I, II and III) for both men and women.
It was after his success at Trinity that Altman began his coaching career as the assistant at his alma mater and as the head coach at Central Catholic High School in San Antonio. Altman was named the 2008-09 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) 5A Coach of the Year after leading the squad to two consecutive Texas state titles in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons as well as multiple district titles. In Altman’s first season as a collegiate assistant coach at Trinity, he helped the Tigers to the NCAA National Championship game in 2007.
Also during his time at Trinity and Central Catholic, Altman continued to return to Albuquerque, working Lobo soccer camps during the summer months from 2007-present. Altman has vast experience working with Coach Fishbein and the Lobos and enters his first season as a Lobo with the benefit of knowing nearly all of the players prior to his arrival.
“I would like to thank Coach Fishbein and the UNM soccer program for this exciting opportunity,” Altman said. “I am very excited to join his staff and it is great to be a part of a program I have been a fan of since I could walk. As an Albuquerque native, Lobo sports has always been in my blood.
“Coming to New Mexico was the right move for my career and the mentorship I had in Mike Avery at Valparaiso, and the chance to work in that department with those amazing kids, has definitely helped prepare me for this new challenge and step in my career. I am confident I will be able to contribute on the field, in the classroom and in the community as a Lobo.”
In his last four seasons at Valparaiso, Altman was primarily responsible for the handling of academic success and recruiting. He helped lead the Crusaders to four consecutive NSCAA Team Academic Awards and also to their first national ranking in program history. In addition, he helped lead the team to tying the most wins (10) and fewest losses (5) in program history during the 2016 season.
Prior to his time at Valparaiso, Altman was an assistant coach at High Point in North Carolina for the 2012 season where he helped the team to its first nationally-ranked season while also helping coach High Point’s first player ever to be drafted in the MLS. As a recruiter, his recruiting class for the 2013 season was ranked in the top 25 by College Soccer News, marking the first time in program history that High Point had ever had a top-25 recruiting class.
“We are excited to have Kelly on board and are looking forward to what the future will bring in 2017 and beyond,” Fishbein said.