University of Arkansas (Pine Bluff)

"This man is manipulative and explosive. Gaslighting is his forte. He ruined our confidence and season with belittling and debasement. Verbal abuse was a constant. He coerced injured girls to play and became enraged if they couldn't. Many practices lacked water breaks in extreme heat. I believe him to be troubled with emotional/mental issues. He took pleasure in building us up and tearing us down, and with exerting his power over us. I was made to feel so worthless when I was injured. I was barred from practices and games solely because of my injury. I was froze out from the rest of the team. I remember the day he wanted me to run a fitness test on my sprained ankle. He humiliated me in front of my teammates, saying I was there just to call myself a d1 player and that real d1 players pushed through the pain. Nothing like being made to feel like a failure for just trying to do what I love. Dashed d1 dream."

"If you’re not a starter or you were a starter and got hurt, he hates you and makes you feel so bad for not playing even though you’re literally hurt. He didn’t let me come to any practices when I was hurt made me feel so cut off from the team and wasn’t even going to let me sit on the bench with my team at a HOME GAME. But once I started playing again he loved me and said he wishes I was staying when I told him I’m transferring. Literally the worst man I’ve ever met. I pray to God every night he finds peace and doesn’t treat his next team the way he treated ours. "

"He doesn’t know how to speak to people in a respectful way. He’s not patient. He demands staff to do what he wants. He belittles players when they make mistakes which causes them to not play without being scared. He picks favorites and if you’re not his favorite expect to get yelled at. He does know soccer well but expects us to do exactly what he wants us to do on the field making micromanaging every pass. "

"When I played soccer at A&M, Coach Emanuel Stephens helped me grow a lot as a player. His training was tough, but it made me better every day. He pushed me to work hard on my touch, ball control, and how I strike the ball. Before working with him, I didn’t always feel confident in my game. But he believed in me and helped me believe in myself. He taught me how to use both feet, how to pass and shoot with power, and how to stay focused even when things got hard. Coach Stephens didn’t just help me get better at soccer—he helped me become stronger and more confident. I’m thankful for everything he taught me. "

"Coach Stephens is verbally and mentally abusive. He has anger management issues, looses his cool, behaves aggressively, and has even driven off in his car in the middle of practice when he is mad. He manipulates his players with fear and divides the team against each other by comparing people to each other and degrading you right in front of anyone and everyone. He does not coach, he blames, screams, and leads with fear to make you feel afraid and insecure. He body shames his players and criticizes appearance to demean you in front of your teammates. I have read every previous post on here and can say everything mentioned is completely accurate. It has been damaging to play for him. Had I been recruited by him and knew who I would be playing for I would have NEVER come to play for him. If you value yourself, think twice before playing for him. "