2021 SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE COACH OF THE YEAR
In his first season at the helm of Northwestern State, head coach Stu Gore led the Lady Demons to Southland Conference regular season and conference titles.
Gore guided NSU to its first league tournament title and NCAA Tournament since 2005 and first regular season conference title since 2000, garnering SLC Coach of the Year honors.
Forward Olivia Draguicevich, the SLC and Louisiana Player of the Year, led a vaunted offense with 13 goals (second all-time in program history) and seven game winners (NSU record and second nationally in 2021).
But the Demons rested on their stout defense as goalkeeper Acelya Aydogmus set single-season records for shutouts (12) as the SLC and All-Louisiana First Team keeper.
Nicole Henry led two first-team all-conference defender picks and four all-conference defenders overall on a defense that allowed just four goals in 14 conference matches. Overall, the NSU defense allowed .90 goals per match.
Gore coached a program record 10 all-conference selections overall.
He didn’t have much runway leading up to his first season as he accepted the job in mid-June of 2021.
After building Northwestern Ohio into NAIA power that included a 2016 national championship, Gore has spent the past three seasons as an associate head coach at the Division I level.
Gore was on staff at James Madison for two seasons before spending this past year at North Dakota.
JMU won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title in Gore’s first season and posted an 11-5-2 league record in Gore’s two seasons. He was a finalist for the JMU head coaching job when he joined the staff as an associate head coach.
Gore built Northwestern Ohio (2013-17) from the ground level in his five seasons as the program’s first head coach.
He led the Racers to four straight Final Fours, which began with a championship game appearance in 2014 and a national title in 2016, being named NAIA Coach of the Year in 2016.
Gore amassed a 100-15-5 record in his five Northwestern Ohio campaigns with four 20-win seasons.
He had immediate success in his first season with a 15-5-1 mark, followed by impressive records of 22-2-1 in 2014, 20-3-2 in 2015, 23-2-1 during the 2016 national title run and 20-3-1 in 2017.
His Racer teams finished the season ranked in the top three nationally three different seasons.
Gore coached 23 NAIA All-Americans and one national player of the year with seven players reaching the professional ranks.
The three-time conference coach of the year and one-time regional coach of the year also has professional coaching and playing experience.
Gore was the head coach of the Women’s Professional Soccer League’s Philadelphia Fever for a season (2011-12) after spending three years on the Washington United Club and helping the Philadelphia Independence transition to professional soccer.
As a player, he competed for two seasons with UD Lorca of the Spanish Second Division after a college career at Division II Montevallo.
Gore grew as a player in the Leeds United program of the English Premier League from 1996-2000 as well on the English national teams from the U14 to U19 levels.
The English native graduated with honors with a bachelor’s in information systems and psychology from the University of Lincoln (U.K.) in 1999.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT STUART GORE:
“Coach Gore had a huge impact on our team. He would take time to sit down with us for as long as was needed to help us improve. He taught us how to better play the game. You can call any of my JMU teammates and you will hear the same thing.”
Ginger Deel, JMU leading scorer 2020-21 (he coached her in 2018 and 2019)
“You can’t go wrong hiring Stu. He’s a really good coach. He has a great balance, knowing when to demand more of a player and when to offer encouragement. He is very pragmatic and flexible.”
Josh Walters, Head Coach at JMU
“Stu knows the game inside and out. He just has an innate knowledge of the game. He also has a special knack for developing relationships with this era of student-athletes. The team always believed in his practice and game strategy.”
Jen Dervarics, Head Coach, University of Northwestern Ohio (assistant coach under Stuart Gore for five years)
“Stuart is incredible. He has won a national championship as a head coach, possesses recruiting connections that have resulted in his programs obtaining Division I All-Americans, cares greatly about his athletes, and places great emphasis on academic success. He has the second-highest coaching license in the world, and from working with him, it is obvious why as he’s simply a fantastic coach.”
Chris Logan, Head Women’s Soccer Coach, University of North Dakota
“Stu is a very good coach. He will make the program relevant. He is a pure-bred soccer guy.”
Chris Adams, Athletic Director, University of Northwestern Ohio
