UAPB soccer coach Stephens resigns

For the third straight season, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s soccer team is looking for a new head coach.

Emanuel Stephens has resigned after one season in charge of the Lady Lions. A UAPB spokesperson confirmed his resignation to The Commercial on Sunday, saying Stephens wanted to be closer to his family in Alabama. The Lady Lions went 1-13 overall and 0-8 in SWAC play under Stephens.

UAPB hired Stephens on short notice last year after previous head coach Jayme Selph unexpectedly stepped down less than a month before the start of the season. Stephens came to UAPB with prior SWAC experience as the head coach at Alabama A&M from 2017-22.

Selph had originally served as an assistant under Erik Solberg before Solberg left following the 2023 campaign to take over at Gardner-Webb. Selph was named the interim before later being promoted to head coach full time.

Solberg’s last team finished 9-11-1 with a 5-6-1 record in SWAC play. The Lady Lions have not won a SWAC game since Solberg left, only managing a 1-1 draw against Prairie View A&M at home under Selph. UAPB’s only wins since have been against non-Division I opponents: Central Baptist under Selph and Lyon College under Stephens.

Both Selph and Stephens said early in their tenures the timing of their hiring made recruiting difficult. Selph did not become the permanent head coach until July 2024 despite Solberg announcing his departure in January of that year. Stephens was announced on Aug. 7, 2025, eight days before UAPB’s scheduled preseason exhibition match.

The 2025 roster featured seven seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and eight freshmen. Five of the seniors played under Solberg.

Stephens’ resignation comes shortly after the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees voted unanimously to allow UAPB to hire Tarkett Sports Construction of Burleson, Texas, to build UAPB’s long-awaited new soccer and track and field complex, for which UAPB held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony in 2022.