Jackie Briggs
Associate Head Coach
Jackie Kintzer Briggs concluded her fifth season as the assistant coach of the Wake Forest field hockey team in 2024.
Wake's underclassmen were the story for the 2024 season, as freshmen and sophomore student-athletes combined for 62 of Wake's 81 points (76.5 percent) A season ago, the Deacs had just one athlete go for over eight points on the season. In 2024, four student-athletes are over the eight-point mark, with all four being underclassmen Freshman Lauren Storey's 17 points mark the most by a first-year Wake Forest student-athlete since 2016 ACC Freshman of the Year Nicola Pluta's 41 points. Sophomore Mia Schoenbeck received All-ACC honors for the first time being named Second Team All-ACC.
Briggs guided junior goalkeeper Ellie Todd to a second-straight season with 70 or more saves. Under Briggs direction, the Boston native will enter her senior season needing just four saves to reach the 200 career saves mark, as she currently sits at 196 through her first three seasons in the Old Gold & Black.
The Deacs defeated two top-10 teams during the 2023 regular season, with an early season 1-0 win against then No. 4 Michigan in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge and a 2-1 win in the ACC regular season finale against No. 10 Syracuse. Nat Friedman received All-ACC honors for the fourth-straight season and senior midfielder Grace Delmotte was named to the All-ACC Second Team for the third time in her career and second-straight season. A program-record 17 Demon Deacons were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Academic Team.
Overseeing the goalies, Wake Forest led the conference with 83 saves during the '23 campaign and goalie Ellie Todd was one of just three keepers with five or more shutouts on the year.
In 2022, Wake Forest's victory in the ACC Championship quarterfinals against Duke helped the squad become the first Wake Forest team since 2008 to win at least 15 matches in a season. Wake Forest finished 2022 winners of 15 of its last 19 matches, outscoring opponents 51-20 during that span.
The Deacs defeated three top-10 teams during the 2022 regular season, with the trio of victories coming against ACC opponents including a win at Virginia who is No. 5 in the latest RPI.
In addition to its five conference victories, Wake Forest posted a 9-3 record against non-league opponents, outscoring them 34-16.
"I am thrilled to announce the hiring of Jackie Kintzer Briggs," Averill said. "I have great respect for her passion and ethics in sport. Her technical and tactical strengths will have an immediate impact on our backfield and goalkeepers. We welcome her winning attitude and energy."
Briggs joins the Demon Deacons after serving as the volunteer assistant with North Carolina during the 2019, 2018 and 2012 seasons. Briggs graduated from UNC in 2010 and then spent nine years with the U.S. National Team before retiring from competition in 2018.
As a Tar Heel, Briggs helped lead North Carolina to two NCAA Championships in 2007 and 2009 and one ACC Championship in 2007. She earned first-team All-America honors in her junior and senior years, when she also was named to the All-ACC and All-NCAA Tournament teams. As a senior, she was the recipient of the team's Carmen and Michael Hooker Leadership Award and the Laree Beans Practice Player of the Year Award.
During her stint as a volunteer assistant coach in 2012, she helped the Tar Heels to an Atlantic Coast Conference title. In 2018 and 2019, the Tar Heels won the ACC Title as well as back-to-back National Championships.
Briggs earned 184 caps during nine years as part of the U.S. National Team, representing her country at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games and at World Cups in 2014 and 2018. She was nominated for the FIH Hockey Stars Awards Female Goalkeeper of the Year Award in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Briggs played alongside former Wake Forest assistant and current Yale head coach Melissa Gonzalez on the U.S. National Team before both players retired in 2018.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with a coaching staff of this caliber and represent an amazing ACC school, Wake Forest University," Briggs said. "I have looked up to Jen Averill and have had the highest respect for her and her coaching style and values since I was in high school. The chance to work for and learn from her is one that I will be forever grateful for. I have had the privilege of playing on the national team with Melissa Gonzalez for eight years and know how passionate, hardworking, and competitive she is on and off the field. I am beyond excited to work with her and grow alongside one of the most loyal teammates I've ever known. I cannot wait to hit the ground running and help the team in any way I can."
Briggs and her husband, Michael, have one daughter, Jeter.