Bemidji boys’ soccer promotes longtime local coach Jeff Mitchell to head coach

Bemidji boys’ soccer chose continuity for its next chapter, promoting assistant coach Jeff Mitchell to head coach after Rick Toward stepped down April 1 to take a teaching job in Uruguay. The move keeps the Lumberjacks’ sideline in familiar hands at a time when the program is trying to build on a long stretch of success and preserve the standards Toward established over three decades.

Mitchell is not an outside hire. He has been involved with Bemidji soccer from the youth level through varsity since 1999, giving him more than 25 years inside the same local system. Bemidji High School activities director Kristen McRae said Mitchell brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the program, a profile that fits a team built around relationships, trust and a steady pipeline from youth soccer into varsity competition.

That pipeline has become one of Bemidji’s biggest strengths. The Bemidji Youth Soccer Association grew from about 150 players when it was revamped roughly 25 years ago to more than 500 players ages 4 to 19, creating a larger base for the high school program to draw from. Mitchell now takes over a roster and coaching culture shaped by that growth, with expectations that the next head coach will keep the feeder system connected to the varsity level while making his own mark on training and team identity.

Toward’s departure closes one of the most successful eras in Bemidji boys’ soccer. He coached the program for 31 years as head coach, and 33 years overall, with a reported record of 291-233-45. Under his leadership, Bemidji reached four state tournament appearances, won three straight Section 8A titles from 2016 to 2018 and finished as the Class A runner-up in 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Team information for the program traces Bemidji soccer back to 1989, with Toward listed as varsity coach since 1995, underscoring how much of the school’s soccer history ran through his tenure.

Toward’s next job takes him to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he plans to teach junior- and senior-level economics at an International Baccalaureate school. Back in Bemidji, the question is less about a rebuild than a transition: whether Mitchell’s long local ties will keep the program’s foundation intact while opening the door to a new style of leadership for the Lumberjacks.