California Baptist University’s national search for a new men’s soccer coach yielded an out-of-state find in Coe Michaelson. The coach at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, the past eight seasons. Michaelson was named the Coach of the Year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and in the NCAA Division II West Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2014. He was also a finalist for the Division II Coach of the Year that season. The Crusaders have been regionally ranked in the NCAA Division II West Region and finished top-four in the GNAC, including two runner-up performances, for four consecutive years.
In the last two seasons combined, NNU went 27-10-2, which produced the fourth-best winning percentage of any West Region team over that span. Last year under Michaelson’s tutelage, the Crusaders went 12-6-1 on the year, grabbing wins over PacWest schools Hawaii-Hilo (1-0), Hawaii Pacific (2-1) and BYU-Hawaii (3-1).
Michaelson led NNU to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in program history in 2014, finishing the campaign with a 15-4-1 overall record, the most in school history. The Crusaders picked up their first NCAA postseason victory since 2003 after peaking at an all-time best No. 12 in the Division II rankings that season.
As a player, Michaelson played semiprofessional soccer in the United Kingdom with Warrington Town AFC and Marine AFC, along with Deportivo Las Rozas in Spain. He was also a two-time All-American at the College of Idaho, where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and education in 2002 and with a masters in teaching in 2003.