Jim Launder

Jim Launder
Personal information
Date of birth (1952-03-22) March 22, 1952 (age 74)
Place of birth Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Positions
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973 Milwaukee Panthers
Managerial career
1974–1978 Milwaukee Panthers (assistant)
1979–1981 Wisconsin Badgers (assistant)
1982–1996 Wisconsin Badgers
1997–1999 Dayton Flyers
2000–2002 Milwaukee Rampage (assistant)
2003 Columbus Crew (assistant)
2005– Madison 56ers
2020– Forward Madison FC (assistant)

Jim Launder is an American soccer coach. He was a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and the 1995 NSCAA Coach of the Year.

Career

He attended Custer High School in Milwaukee. He then played midfielder and goalkeeper for the Milwaukee Panthers men's soccer team. He was inducted into the Milwaukee Panthers Hall of Fame in 2000.

After serving as an assistant coach, Launder was hired as the head coach at Wisconsin for the 1982 season. He led Wisconsin to the 1995 national championship, and was named the NSCAA Coach of the Year. However, in January 1996, Wisconsin associate athletic director Cheryl Marra recommended to the Athletic Board that Launder's contract not be renewed. UW renewed his contract for one year. Launder was fired from Wisconsin in February 1997. The firing of Launder led to a review of the process Wisconsin used to evaluate coaches.

Launder coached Dayton from 1997 to 1999, leading the team to Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament championships in 1997 and 1998.

In January 2003, Launder was hired to be an assistant coach for the Columbus Crew. In late 2003, he returned to Madison to become the director of the Princeton Soccer Club.

Launder has coached the Madison 56ers since 2005.

In January 2010, after Wisconsin coach Todd Yeagley departed to become the coach at Indiana, Launder applied to return as Wisconsin men's soccer coach, but was ultimately passed over for John Trask.

Forward Madison FC hired Launder as an assistant coach before the 2020 season.

College head coaching record

Record table
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten) (1982–1996)
1982 Wisconsin 10–6–2
1983 Wisconsin 11–5–4
1984 Wisconsin 12–6–2
1985 Wisconsin 12–7–1
1986 Wisconsin 13–6–1
1987 Wisconsin 13–8–1
1988 Wisconsin 12–4–4
1989 Wisconsin 13–2–3
1990 Wisconsin 8–8–4
1991 Wisconsin 17–4–15–0–01stNCAA Round of 16
1992 Wisconsin 12–5–24–0–11st
1993 Wisconsin 15–4–43–1–12ndNCAA Quarterfinals
1994 Wisconsin 14–6–02–3–0T–3rdNCAA First Round
1995 Wisconsin 20–4–14–1–0T–1stNCAA Championship
1996 Wisconsin 11–5–52–2–1T–3rd
Wisconsin: 193–80–35 (.683)
Dayton (Atlantic 10) (1997–1999)
1997 Dayton 12–8–17–4–0T–3rdNCAA play-in game
1998 Dayton 13–9–09–2–01stNCAA play-in game
1999 Dayton 9–7–25–5–16th
Dayton: 34–24–3 (.582)
Total:227–104–38 (.667)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ "Forward Madison FC on Twitter: "We want to wish a very Happy 70th Birthday to Wisconsin soccer legend and FMFC Assistant Coach Jim Launder! 🎉… "". Archived from the original on March 22, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Journal, Nathan Leaf Wisconsin State (May 21, 2005). "SENT OFF BY UW AFTER WINNING A NATIONAL TITLE, JIM LAUNDER HAS COME ... FULL CIRCLE".
  3. ↑ "Milwaukee Panther Athletics - Hall of Fame". mkepanthers.com.
  4. ↑ By (January 23, 1996). "UW soccer coach walking on a tightrope".
  5. ↑ "Wisconsin Fires Soccer Coach Despite Success". Chicago Tribune.
  6. 1 2 tmulhern@madison.com, Tom Mulhern (January 11, 2010). "Launder seeks UW men's soccer job".
  7. ↑ "MLS: Crew hires Jim Launder as assistant coach".
  8. ↑ "Madison 56ers combining best of local, foreign talent". May 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Technical Staff". Forward Madison FC. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.