University of California - Santa Barbara Men's Soccer

Known as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation, Gregory Wilson has been with the Gauchos since the spring of 2006. In Wilson's 20 years on the bench, UC Santa Barbara has reached the postseason 11 times – including winning the 2006 National Championship, reaching the 2019 NCAA Elite Eight, 7 NCAA Sweet Sixteen Appearances – and won a Big West regular season or tournament title seven times. The Downingtown, Pennsylvania native boasts 25 years of Division I experience and over 33 years across college, club and high school levels. With Santa Barbara, Wilson is actively involved in all aspects of the coaching process, including training, scouting, recruiting, community outreach and more. He has also bolstered the program’s community and alumni relations, organizing tournaments, camps, and special events such as AYSO Skills Media Day. A renowned recruiter, he has been the program's recruiting coordinator since 2006, his efforts to bring top talent to Santa Barbara frequently being recognized nationally, including in 2006 (College Soccer News No. 22 recruiting class), 2007 (No. 13), 2008 (No. 6), 2009 (No. 4), 2010 (No. 7), 2011 (No. 23), 2012 (No. 17), and 2013 (Top Drawer Soccer No. 3 recruiting class). Over his career, Wilson has helped recruited a pair of players who have received caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team, 9 Mac Herman Trophy College Player of the Year Nominees, 12 National All-Americans, 39 All-Far West Regional Honorees, 33 Big West Players of the Year, 56 All-Big West First Team selections and 161 total All-Big West selections. Also adept at player development, he has mentored over 50 players who have moved onto the professional ranks, bolstering the most MLS draft picks in the Big West Conference over the past two decades including 8 MLS First Round Draft picks, headlined by 2024 No. 1 overall pick Manu Duah, as well as the likes of Chris Pontius, Luis Silva, Sam Garza and 3 players who have gone on to win an MLS Cup.   Under Wilson’s guidance, the Gauchos have also thrived in the classroom. UC Santa Barbara received numerous NSCAA Team Academic Awards for maintaining a team GPA over 3.0, while Wilson has coached over 20 Big West All-Academic honorees, 3 Academic All-Americans and 2 Golden Eagle Ring Winners for boosting the highest GPA in the entire athletic department. Wilson also oversees all aspects of community outreach and assisted with and management of ‘Gaucho Gives’ and other marketing programs that has seen the programs average attendance rise from 1,200 to as high as over 5,000 per game. In his tenure, UC Santa Barbara was No. 1in the nation in men’s soccer attendance for 9 consecutive seasons. In addition, during this time frame, the program achieved the top five regular season, on-campus draws in NCAA history including 15,896 vs UCLA, 14,919 vs Cal Poly & 13,772 vs San Diego. Serving the community for over 19-years as an influential leader, Wilson served the Santa Barbara Soccer Club in the roles of Coach (2006 to 2013), Academy Head Coach, Zone 2 Boy’s Director, MLS Academy Director, Director of Coaching and Director of Soccer (2014-2023).  During Wilson’s two decades of service, he completely revamped and developed curriculum for the club's competitive and recreational based programs and created a robust programming for player identification and scouting networks. He oversaw the technical direction of the club and expansion from a mere 30 recreation-based players to over 1,500 participants, 25 competitive teams to 56 including the mentorship of approximately 20 coaches to over 40 coaches to date. Wilson established the foundation that helped transcended the Santa Barbara Soccer Club MLS Academy into full-time status with US Soccer, most recently boosting one MLS Playoff team while assisting in developing over twenty players that advanced careers into top Division I schools.  Prior to arriving in Santa Barbara, Wilson made coaching stops at Philadelphia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Serving as a Division I head coach at Philadelphia University from 2003-2005, Wilson snapped a 16-year postseason drought when he led the Rams into the Atlantic Soccer Conference Tournament in 2005. He also established a commitment to academic excellence at Philadelphia as his players ranked in the top 80% in the country in Academic Progress Rate, Eligibility/Graduation and Retention according to the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance. In his two years at the University of Pennsylvania, his duties included daily team training for the reserve team, assisting with the training and conditioning of field players, and scouting and recruiting. In his first year working at Penn, the Quakers won the Ivy League title and he helped the program advance to its first NCAA Tournament berth in 25 years. From 1999-2002 Wilson served as the director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association. He also coached in the ODP Program and guided the squad to the 2006 USYSA Region I Championship and National Final. Before that, Wilson spent eight successful seasons as the head coach for the FC Delco Soccer Club, where he won the 1996, 1998, and 2000 USYSA Pennsylvania State Cups as well as the 1998 Region I Championship. Wilson’s first Head Coach stint was at Downingtown High School from 1997-2001, where he led the team to back-to-back 1998 & 1999 PIAA- AAA State Championship , winning titles for the first time since his All-American season in 1989.  Over his time at the helm at Downingtown, Wilson developed and mentored a player who capped for the US Men’s National, 2 MLS professional, 3 National All-Americans, 10 All-State Selections and over fifteen players that advanced careers into top Division I schools.    As a player, Wilson spent three years playing professionally for the Philadelphia Freedom of the USISL. He was a standout at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science from 1990-93, where he was an All-League First Team selection. He was an NSCAA National All-American his senior year at Downingtown High School, and won state championships at the USYSA and PIAA levels. Wilson's certifications include United States Soccer Federation "A" Senior and United States Soccer Federation “A” Youth National Licenses, NSCAA "Master Coach Diploma', 'Director of Coaching Diploma' and "Premier Diploma" as well as a USYSA National Youth License. In addition, he was previously a regional coaching instructor for the NSCAA. Wilson earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science and received an MBA while on staff at Philadelphia University. He and his wife Andra live in Santa Barbara with their son, Baylor

UC Santa Barbara alumnus Carson Vom Steeg joined the Gauchos' coaching staff in the spring of 2025 as an assistant coach, returning to his alma mater after a three-year career as a professional player in the USL Championship.  In his first season as a coach, Vom Steeg helped UC Santa Barbara achieve something they had not since he was a student-athlete, winning The Big West Regular Season Championship. The 2025 Gauchos also matched the 2021 Gauchos by keeping nine clean sheets, eight of which were part of a 13-game unbeaten run, the program's second longest of all time and longest since 1982. The 2025 team finished with a record of 7-5-8. At the end of the season, Calle Mollerberg was named The Big West Defensive Player of the Year and Steinar Björnsson The Big West Freshman of the Year. Mollerberg also earned All-Big West First Team honors alongside Kaden Standish and Zac Siebenlist as a total of eight Gauchos earned all-conference acclaim.  A Santa Barbara native, Vom Steeg was an All-American at San Marcos High in 2016, going on to play for Stanford in 2017, when the Cardinal won the national championship. After that year, he returned to Santa Barbara and finished his collegiate career as a Gaucho, graduating with a degree in Communication in 2021. As a senior on the 2021 team, Vom Steeg was part of a Gaucho defensive line that kept nine clean sheets — seventh-most in a single season in program history — including one in The Big West Championship match, where Santa Barbara blanked UC Irvine, 4-0, at Harder Stadium.   Following his graduation in 2021, Vom Steeg began his career as a professional, playing 1,819 minutes for Loudoun United in the 2022 season. Loudoun served as the reserve team for Major League Soccer side D.C. United at the time, and Vom Steeg earned a call-up to the Black-and-Red while there, logging one appearance for D.C. United. In 2023, he moved to Memphis 901 FC, where he totaled 42 appearances across two seasons. Vom Steeg holds a U.S. Soccer Federation Coaching License and is taking on his first coaching position with the Gauchos.

Kian Kohan joined the UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer staff during the 2024 season, helping the Gauchos earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they reached the second round and finished with a 12-5-5 record. In his first full season in Santa Barbara as the Gauchos' Director of Operations, Kohan helped the Blue and Gold win their first Big West Regular Season Championship since 2021 and host The Big West Semifinal and Final at Harder Stadium.

Matias Fernandez joined the UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer coaching staff in the summer of 2024 as the program's goalkeeping coach. A man deeply rooted in Central California soccer, Fernandez comes to Santa Barbara after 11 years as a player and coach across a variety of clubs and institutions in Fresno, including seven years coaching goalies at Fresno Pacific. In his first season with the Gauchos, Fernandez helped senior netminder David Mitzner enter the record books. Mitzner played every minute for Santa Barbara in 2024, making 59 saves, keeping seven shutouts and maintaining a 1.08 goals-against average. That last mark lowered his career GAA to 1.12, which is tied for eighth-best in program history. At the end of the season, Mitzner earned All-Big West Honorable Mention. In 2025, Fernandez guided talented freshman Owen Beninga to a new program single-season record, as the rookie maintained a goals-against average of 0.52 across his 12 games, keeping seven clean sheets. Fellow goalkeeper Luke Skinner kept two more shutouts as the 2025 squad matched the seventh-best single-season mark in program history with a total of nine. Eight of those came during Santa Barbara's 13-match unbeaten run, the second longest in program history, and their run to The Big West Regular Season Championship. At the end of the year, Beninga was named to the All-Big West Second Team and The Big West All-Freshman Team. A Fresno Pacific alumnus, Fernandez helped the Sunbirds win the PacWest Championship in 2019, posting a school record 1.2 goals-against average in the process. Along with Fresno Pacific, Fernandez also spent time coaching goalkeepers for Fresno State Women's Soccer and the youth academy of Central Valley Fuego FC, where he spent part of his playing career. After graduating from Fresno Pacific in 2017, Fernandez's professional career also included stints with Fresno Foxes and Valley FC.  Fernandez's coaching career began in 2013 with his MSF Goalkeeping Academy, where he coached throughout his time as a collegiate and professional athlete in Fresno.