Bowling Green State University Assistant Vice President/Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Greg Christopher has announced the hiring of Eric Nichols as head men's soccer coach. Christopher made the announcement Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 17).

 

"We are pleased to welcome Eric to the Falcon family," said Christopher. "Eric stood out among an excellent group of candidates. His experience as a head coach, coupled with his recruiting knowledge of Ohio and the Midwest, made him the ideal candidate to guide our men's soccer program."

 

Nichols comes to Bowling Green after spending the 2008 season as assistant coach at Davidson College. He also served as recruiting coordinator under head coach Matt Spear.

 

"I am excited to join the BGSU family," said Nichols. "Having spent most of my life in Ohio, I am aware of the strong tradition at Bowling Green, and of the many great players and coaches who have performed at Cochrane Field over the years. I am looking forward to returning the program to prominence."

 

Prior to his stint at Davidson, Nichols was the head men's soccer coach at Ohio Dominican University for four seasons (2004-07). Under his guidance, the Panthers recorded a 59-22-1 (.728) overall mark, including a final ranking of fourth in 2007. That team advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament.

 

Nichols guided his final ODU team to a 19-3-0 overall record and was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/NAIA Midwest Region Coach of the Year and Ohio Coach of the Year in 2007. He was named the American Mideast Conference South Division Coach of the Year in three of his four seasons with the Panthers.

 

Prior to heading to ODU, Nichols served as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan University under Jay Martin. During Nichols' four years there, the Battling Bishops compiled a mark of 74-14-3, won four conference championships and advanced to a pair of NCAA Regional Championships and one Final Four.

 

Along with his collegiate coaching experience, Nichols was the head coach of the Columbus Crew's U18 U.S. Soccer Academy team for the 2007-08 season, and also has experience coaching state and region squads in the Olympic Development Program (ODP). He also has a NSCAA Premier Diploma and a U.S. Soccer "A" License.

 

Nichols played collegiately at Ohio State, and played five years of professional soccer for the Columbus Xoggz and Indiana Blast of the USISL and the Columbus Invaders of the NPSL.

 

He becomes only the fifth head coach in the storied history of the BGSU men's soccer program, which enters its 45th season in 2009. He joins Mickey Cochrane (1965-77), the late Gary Palmisano (1978-92, 1994), Mel Mahler (1993, 1995-2003) and Fred Thompson (2004-08) on that list.

 

"Bowling Green has a rich tradition in men's soccer," Christopher said. "Hiring the right leader to help this program compete again for championships is important for the future of BGSU Athletics."

 

Nichols earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from OSU in 2000. He has taken graduate courses at BGSU.

 

Nichols and his wife, Marianne, have two children, Kalen (8) and Jordan (5).