Kyle Halfpop enters his fourth season as head coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston in 2022.
In his first season leading the Golden Eagles, Halfpop led the Golden Eagles to a 1-15 mark. Halfpop was hired just a week prior to the start of fall practice in 2019, and helped the Golden Eagles continued to improve during the season. Minnesota Crookston played their best soccer at the end of the season, picking up a 3-2 win over a Minot State University squad that was an NCAA Division II tournament participant in 2018. The three goals were the most for the Golden Eagles since Aug. 30, 2018. The Golden Eagles also had a narrow 2-1 loss to MSU Moorhead late in the season. Minnesota Crookston found success in the classroom under Halfpop as they had seven student-athletes earn NSIC All-Academic accolades. In addition, Jacqueline Burke and Jessica Withrow were named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.
Halfpop's second season as head coach saw the 2020 fall season canceled due to COVID-19. The Golden Eagles played scrimmages in the spring, but no official games. The Golden Eagles had seven student-athletes honored on the NSIC All-Academic Teams in 2020.
The 2021 season, saw Halfpop guide the Golden Eagles to a win over Minnesota State University Moorhead to capture the coveted Highway 75 Rivalry Rock. In addition, he helped coach Jada VanOverbeke to an All-NSIC Second Team nod, the first NSIC accolades for the program since 2016.
Halfpop had eight years of collegiate coaching experience including his time at Sioux Falls prior to his arrival at Minnesota Crookston. With the Cougars, Halfpop was instrumental in the growth of the program as he has helped the program increase their wins total in each of his seasons as an assistant coach. The program had won just six games the previous three seasons prior to his arrival. In addition, Sioux Falls has finished above their preseason ranking in each of Halfpop's seasons as assistant coach. During his three seasons as assistant coach, Sioux Falls amassed 13 wins and secured nine ties.
Halfpop helped six student-athletes earn All-NSIC honors in his three seasons with the program. The Cougars have seen drastic improvement both offensively and defensively in his time with the squad. In three years, USF has raised their goals mark by six goals. In addition, they have decreased their goals against average from 2.64 the season prior to Halfpop's arrival to 1.52 during the 2018 season.
While with the Cougars, Halfpop was responsible for recruiting high level Division II athletes from across the nation. He also was in charge of all travel arrangements, and helped to create and implement training sessions. Halfpop also scheduled and instructed film sessions with the student-athletes. During his time with Sioux Falls, the team GPA has improved each year. Halfpop has also helped guide 25 student-athletes to NSIC All-Academic recognition.
Prior to his arrival at USF, Halfpop spent one season as the head women's soccer coach at Iowa Wesleyan University, a NCAA Division III school in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. During his time with the Tigers, Halfpop helped the team to their first positive result in over three years after he had inherited just one returning player. He coached the first player in the team's NCAA Division III history to all-conference recognition. While at Iowa Wesleyan, he was responsible for the team budget, all coaching sessions, managing the team's academic success, and all practice and travel plans.
Before taking the head coaching job at Iowa Wesleyan, Halfpop was the academy director at Dakota Alliance Soccer Club in Sioux Falls, S.D from 2013-15. At Dakota Alliance, he oversaw the coaching staff and provided mentorship and seminars for staff. He also oversaw the recruitment of players and created numerous events to help aid player development.
Prior to taking the job with Dakota Alliance, he spent four seasons as the assistant men's soccer coach at his alma mater, Central College in Pella, Iowa. At Central, Halfpop was responsible for recruiting student-athletes, providing scouting reports to the head coach, and coaching training sessions. Halfpop helped the Dutch post a 44-30-1 mark in his four years. During his time, Central finished as runner-up in the conference in 2008. He assisted in coaching four NSCAA All-Region players, three NSCAA Scholar All-Americans, and 25 all-conference recipients. In addition, Halfpop helped coach the 2010 Iowa Conference Most Valuable Player.
During his time working at Central College, he was also the technical director for the Pella Soccer Club in Pella, Iowa.
Halfpop earned his bachelor's degree in communication studies from Central College. In addition, he obtained his master's degree in sport management from California University of Pennsylvania. Halfpop is currently pursuing his doctorate in performance psychology from Grand Canyon University.
He played collegiate at Central College, where he was a Second Team All-West Region player. Halfpop was a three-time First Team All-Iowa Conference player, and was twice named Central College Most Valuable Player. He is a native of Urbandale, Iowa. He is married to Sarah and they have four children.
| Years |
Wins |
Losses |
Ties |
Win Pct. |
| 2021 |
1 |
17 |
0 |
5.5% |
| 2020 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0% |
| 2019 |
1 |
15 |
0 |
6.3 % |
| 2015 |
0 |
15 |
1 |
3.1 % |
| Total |
2 |
47 |
1 |
5.1% |
* Halfpop coached at Iowa Wesleyan for the 2015 season
* 2020 was not played due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
