Seamus Wisely enters his second year at the helm of Academy of Art men's soccer after being named the head coach in January 2021.
The Urban Knights' return to a full schedule in the fall of 2021 was highlighted by new program records from Adrian Cekala as well as emotional wins over Chaminade on Senior Day and Dominican in the season finale. En route to being named
All-PacWest Second Team, Cekala tied for second in the Pacific West Conference in goals (7) and was tied for third with two of those being of the game-winning variety. Cekala became Academy of Art's new leader in both career goals (21, only 20-goal scorer in ART U history) and points (47, only 40+ point scorer in ART U history) while this last five game-winning goals put him third in program history. Bilal Mihoubi would earn
All-PacWest Third Team honors after he appeared and started in 14 matches, playing every minute of those contests to wind up with the fifth-most minutes on the Knights (1,290) and truly be known as a shutdown defender on the ART U back line. The trio of Cekala, Mihoubi, and Omer Tal accounted for Academy of Art's three PacWest Player of the Week honors and ART U men's soccer finished the year with 10
Academic All-PacWest Team honorees.
It was a total of four victories that accompanied numerous individual accolades for ART U in the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, winning consecutive games to open and close the season, ultimately finishing the year in second place in the PacWest NorCal pod. Collecting at least one win against every NorCal pod team, the Knights opened the year with
a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over eventual NorCal pod champion Fresno Pacific. Thanks to a three-goal week after twice against FPU and once in
ART U's 2-1 win over Dominican on Feb. 6, Adrian Cekala was the first Urban Knight to be announced as
the first PacWest NorCal Player of the Week. The Knights also pitched a pair of shutouts in the final two games of the season, starting with
a 2-0 win over Dominican on Feb. 21 before dominating HNU
on senior day by a final of 5-0, resulting in Cekala being
named the PacWest NorCal Player of the Week for the second time in 2020-21 after totaling three goals and two assists. After the conclusion of the season, three Urban Knights were selected to the
2020-21 All-PacWest Northern California Team including Cekala, Gilly Miller, Bilal Mihoubi. Miller earned extra recognition, being named the 2020 PacWest Newcomer of the Year. It is the second time in history that ART U has had at least three All-PacWest selections (most: 2015), while it is the first time ever an Urban Knight has received the Newcomer of the Year award. Additionally, men's soccer was represented by nine
2020-21 Academic All-PacWest honorees.
Formerly involved at ART U when the athletics department was exclusively composed of club teams, Wisely brings more than 30 years of coaching experience into his role at Academy of Art.
Leading various clubs in his recent past, Wisely worked with the Peninsula Youth Soccer Club, the La Quinta High School women’s program, the San Francisco Vikings Soccer Club, and the Ross Valley Breakers Soccer Club prior to his multi-year stints with the United Premier Soccer League and Women’s Premiere Soccer League. With the WPSL, he coached the North Bay Wave and Sacramento Thunder.
After starting his coaching career with the San Francisco Celtic Soccer Club, Wisely helped develop the Academy of Art athletics program by fielding club teams and finding venues for the Urban Knights to play from 1999 to 2003. Thereafter, he spent four years coaching soccer at Desert Hot Springs High School and two years at the College of the Desert in Southern California.
As a soccer athlete himself, Wisely competed for two teams in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Athletic and Ballyfermot United, before spending nearly a decade with the San Francisco Celtic Soccer Club. Among his career highlights was an appearance as a guest player to promote the 1994 World Cup in San Francisco playing against stars like Fernando Clavio and Brian Quinn from the U.S. Men's National Team and Rivelino from Brazil’s 1970 World Cup championship team.
Head Coach, ART U
2021 – present
| Year |
Overall (Pct.) |
PacWest (Place) |
| 2021 |
2-12-1 (.167) |
2-8-0 (10th) |
| 2020-21* |
4-2-0 (.667) |
4-2-0 (2nd NorCal) |
| Totals |
6-14-1 (.310) |
6-10-0 (.375) |
*Year shortened due to COVID-19
