Bowling Green State University Men's Soccer

Nichols embarks upon his eighth season at the helm of the BGSU men's soccer program in 2016. Since being named the Falcons' mentor on Feb. 17, 2009, Nichols has built not just a winning team, but a successful program both on and off the pitch. In his first seven seasons with the Falcons, Nichols has changed the culture of the program, showing steady improvement each season. BGSU has an overall record of 53-60-20 since Nichols assumed the helm. After going 3-12-3 in his initial season, Nichols' Falcons have a winning record over the last six years. The Falcons had an RPI of 184 in the 2008 season, the year before Nichols arrived. Four years later, BGSU finished with an RPI of 99. And, at the conclusion of the 2014 campaign, Nichols and the Falcons were ranked 64th in the nation in the end-of-season RPI. In August of 2015, Nichols signed a multi-year contract extension. His contract at BGSU runs through December 31, 2019. Upon his arrival in '09, Nichols took over a team that had dropped to the bottom of the Mid-American Conference, and slowly but surely returned the BGSU men's soccer program to relevance in the MAC and the region. Nichols has led the Falcons win a total of 23 matches over the last two seasons. The 2015 team began the year with five consecutive wins, breaking into the national rankings for the first time since 1999. The Falcons were 24th in the country in the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) poll released on Sept. 8. Also last season, junior Pat Flynn was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List, senior Ryan James was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, and Flynn and fellow junior Joe Sullivan both were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team. All three student-athletes were among eight Falcons to earn Academic All-MAC honors, and James was selected by Sporting Kansas City in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft. Nichols and the Falcons, after losing 10 seniors off of the 2013 team,were picked to finish fifth in the six-team MAC in the 2014 campaign. But, that 2014 team put together one of the most successful seasons in the last few decades. The Falcons went 14-6-1 overall and tied for third in the MAC with a 2-2-1 league ledger. In 2014, the Falcons finished with a winning record for the first time in 14 years, and the overall win total was the program's highest in 17 seasons. BGSU more than doubled the previous season's win total, and the Falcons advanced to the championship match of the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2003. In the final 2014 NCAA statistics, the Falcons were ranked 30th or better in the country in eight of the 11 team categories kept by the NCAA. The BG offense finished ranked in the top-20 in total goals (14th), total points (15th) and total assists (17th), and most importantly, the Falcons were in the top 20 in winning percentage (20th). The Falcons got off to a strong start in the fall of 2014, with a 9-2-0 record in early October. A four-match winless streak, however, included a tie and a pair of losses in MAC matches. As Halloween approached, the Brown and Orange found their margin for error nearly gone. A non-conference win at Detroit on Oct. 29, however, was the first of three consecutive overtime victories, including a surreal win over Western Michigan that kept BG's MAC Tournament hopes alive. That WMU match saw the Falcons fall behind with 15 minutes left in regulation, only to score the tying goal with approximately five minutes to go. In overtime, though, the Broncos were awarded a penalty kick, and a goal would end the Falcons' chances of making the league tournament. Falcon 'keeper Ryan Heuton saved that WMU PK, however, and moments later, BG scored at the other end of Cochrane Field for an improbable come-from-behind victory. After a win over Wright State that allowed BG to keep possession of the I-75 Cup, the Falcons picked up a road win over Northern Illinois in another must-win game, earning a berth in the league tournament. In that league tourney, the Falcons posted a fifth-straight one-goal victory (and a fourth overtime win in that time) with another come-from-behind win. This time, the victim was West Virginia, and the Falcons advanced to the league tourney final for the first time since 2003. In that championship game, the Brown and Orange took a second-half lead over Akron on the Zips' home pitch, but the hosts battled back for a narrow, 2-1 win. Nevertheless, the message had been sent that BG was back. The 2014 team had just three seniors, two of whom battled injuries down the stretch. All three seniors played key roles in the Falcons' success, but Nichols and his staff got numerous contributions from the freshman, sophomore and junior classes as well. Individually, Flynn, a sophomore, finished the season ranked among the nation's top-10 players in no fewer than five categories. Flynn was third in the nation with six game-winning goals, and he finished fourth in the country in goals (14) and fifth in points (32). Flynn, part of the Falcons' strong tradition of players from the Naperville, Ill., area, was eighth in the nation in both goals per game and points per game in 2014. Several other Falcons finished among the NCAA's individual leaders last season, as James, Sullivan, Max Auden and Jacob Roth all were listed in the top-100 in the nation in at least one statistical category. In the classroom, the Falcons received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award for the fifth consecutive season. The award is given to programs that have achieved a minimum team GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Additionally, Flynn was named to the Academic All-America Second Team in 2014, marking the second-straight season that the Falcons were represented among that distinguished group ( Brandon Silva also earned second-team honors in 2013). On the pitch, Flynn and James were named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Team in 2014, with Flynn earning first-team honors and James being named to the third team. Flynn was the first Falcons to earn all-region accolades in 14 years. Flynn and James were joined by Danny Baraldi on the OCSA's All-Ohio Team, with Flynn again earning first-team honors and his two teammates each picking up second-team accolades. Ironically, after one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, BGSU was the only school without a player named to the All-MAC First Team in 2014. However, a quintet of Falcons earned second-team honors. The total of five honorees was the team's most since 1996, and tied a school record. Nichols has worked tirelessly at making Cochrane Stadium an entertaining place to be for soccer fans, as well as a difficult place to play for the road team. BGSU's attendance numbers have steadily increased during his tenure, and the Falcons have had multiple crowds of over 2,000 fill the stadium over the last three seasons, including throngs of 3,126 vs. Ohio State and 2,273 against Michigan in 2013. Nichols also was instrumental in the Cochrane Stadium lights project, as the Falcons now play nearly all of their matches under the lights, enhancing an already-entertaining game-day atmosphere. The Falcons posted a 6-7-6 overall record in 2013, going 2-2-2 in MAC play while again playing a strong non-league schedule. The '13 team scored the most goals (25) since 2003, and allowed the fewest goals (17) since the '01 campaign. The Falcons scored a total of 38 goals in 2014. Nichols and his staff have solidified the Falcons' defensive corps, as BGSU's defense allowed fewer goals than the previous year in each of his first five seasons. Although the number of goals allowed increased slightly from 2013 (17) to '14 (20), BG still allowed less than a goal per game for the second-straight season. Both the 2011 and '12 Falcons had seven shutouts, and the 2013  and '14 teams each kept eight clean sheets. The '12 campaign saw the Falcons post eight wins against another in a long line of tough schedules for Nichols-coached teams. BGSU's 8-9-3 overall mark represented the team's most wins and highest winning percentage since 2003. The Brown and Orange posted two wins and a tie against teams that advanced to the NCAA Championships. BGSU went 3-3-1 in MAC play that fall, earning the fourth seed in the eight-team conference and a bid to the league tournament. The Falcons fell on the road to the nation's top-ranked team in the MAC Tournament's semifinal round. The Falcons went undefeated in overtime in 2012, and BG recaptured the I-75 Cup with a victory over Wright State. BGSU had two All-MAC First-Team selections for the first time since 2002. The 2011 season saw the Falcons post a 7-8-3 overall record. The seven wins, the program's highest total since the 2003 season, included a season-opening victory over ninth-ranked U-M before a crowd of over 2,100 at Cochrane Field. The Brown and Orange went 4-2-1 at Cochrane, and BGSU's defense posted a total of seven shutouts on the year, the program's most in a decade. In 2010, his second season at the helm, Nichols guided the Brown and Orange to an overall mark of 6-9-3 and a MAC ledger of 3-3-0. BGSU, after being picked to place sixth in the league in the preseason coaches poll, tied for third in the final regular-season standings and earned the third seed for the MAC Tournament. With just four seniors on the 26-man roster in 2010, Nichols and the Falcons doubled the team's overall win total from the previous fall. That '10 roster featured 12 newcomers, including 11 true freshmen. At least nine of those 12 players started two or more matches. That young team was ranked 117th of 204 schools in the final NCAA RPI, after going five years without having a ranking better than 152. That 2010 team came away with a result (a win or a tie) 50 percent of the time, after the Falcons did so in just 33.3% of the 2009 matches. Nichols guided his initial Falcon team to a 3-12-3 mark and a 2-3-1 MAC record. That 2009 club narrowly missed out on a top-four conference finish and a berth in the league tournament. Nichols came 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. 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 59-22-2 (.711) 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 NSCAA/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 is only the fifth head coach in the storied history of the BGSU mens soccer program, which enters its 52nd season in 2016. 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. 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, reside in Bowling Green with their three children, sons Kalen (15) and Braden (6) and daughter Jordan (12).  

Ryan James one of the top players in BGSU men's soccer history, returned to his alma mater in 2024, joining the staff as an assistant coach. In his first sea...