Nate Norman joined the Irish coaching staff in January 2017 after one season at the helm of the Liberty program, where he led the Flames to a 14-8 record and a Big South Tournament Championship in 2016. He saw five student-athletes named to the All-Big South first and second teams, four selected for the conference all-tournament team and two picked for the NSCAA all-region squad.
Prior to his time at Liberty, Norman spent four seasons as head coach at Western Michigan, where he led the Broncos to a 44-27-14 record. He guided the program to two Midwestern Athletic Conference tournament titles in 2013 and 2015, and he was named the MAC Coach of the Year and the NSCAA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2015. Additionally, he saw 16 players named to all-conference squads during his tenure and placed a league-best 17 players on the MAC All-Academic Team in 2015.
The former midfielder was a four-year Monogram winner for Notre Dame men’s soccer head coach Bobby Clark from 2003-06, helping the Irish to the 2003 BIG EAST Tournament title, the 2004 BIG EAST regular-season championship and the 2006 NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
Norman was selected 21st overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft and spent one season in Chicago before one-year stints with the United Soccer League’s (USL) Charleston Battery (2008) and Carolina RailHawks (2009). It was during this time that Norman began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant with the Irish men’s program for the 2007-08 season.
In 2009, Norman began as the assistant coach for the men’s program at Division III Covenant College. He also spent one season each as the women’s assistant at Western Michigan (2010) and Miami (Fla.; 2011) before taking the head coaching position with the Broncos.
Norman is a native of Rochester, Michigan, and is married to the former Rachel De Steiger.