On social media after the announcement that One Knoxville would play the majority of its home games in Maryville, some folks questioned why the team would venture a 20-minute ride down the road in Blount County.
What I (Brian) knew from my year of covering Maryville College men’s and women’s soccer in 2014 for The Daily Times was that Pepe Fernandez had been one of the sport’s familiar faces in East Tennessee for more than three decades. In 2015, when I wrote a magazine story about the culture and history of indoor soccer in Knoxville, we sat down for the first time, in his office, and talked about his time as both a coach at Maryville and for the Knoxville Force as well as a player for the Knoxville Impact, a semi-pro indoor soccer team from the ‘90s.
In 33 seasons at the helm of Maryville College, Fernandez has won four USA South Tournament titles and led the men and women to 16 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. He is ranked in the Top 10 for wins all-time in men’s DIII soccer.
In this interview, we discuss:
Why Pepe’s first name is not pronounced how you expect it to be
His history of playing soccer for Father Ryan High School, in the defunct Dixie Amateur Soccer League, and for Tennessee Wesleyan
What brought him and has kept him at Maryville College for more than three decades
His and his current and former players’ contributions to soccer in the community
His favorite coaching memories
What makes soccer such a special sport
Whether or not Knoxville is a soccer town
Enjoy!
Fernandez’s Maryville College bio
Soccer in East Tennessee w/ Coach Pepe Fernandez of Maryville College • #24