Bio

David Nolan is entering his second season as the head coach of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s soccer program in 2023.

In his debut season, Nolan led the Athenas to their first SCIAC Tournament berth since 2016, helping CMS advance to the conference championship game with a 2-1 road win over Cal Lutheran in the semifinals. CMS finished the year with a 9-6-6 overall record, and a 5-2-5 record in conference play.  

Nolan joined the Athenas with intimate familiarity with the SCIAC and the Claremont Colleges community, after spending seven years with the Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer program, ending his tenure as the associate head coach. He served as the head recruiter for the Sagehens and helped the program reach the NCAA Division III Final Four in his final season in 2019.

During Nolan’s tenure, Pomona-Pitzer won three SCIAC titles, made four NCAA appearances, and reached the Elite Eight in 2016 (falling to Chicago in penalty kicks) before its Final Four appearance in 2019.

While with the Sagehens, Nolan also had the opportunity to take on an expanded role with the day-to-day operations of the program in the Final Four season of 2019, while head coach Jen Scanlon was also serving as the interim athletic director. He was part of the SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2016, 2018 and 2019, and helped the Sagehens to three league championships.

In addition to his experience at Pomona-Pitzer, Nolan joins CMS with two years of collegiate head coaching experience under his belt, after taking over the helm at William Jessup University in Rocklin, California in May of 2020. Before he came on board, William Jessup had a 3-14 record in 2019, and then struggled to a 2-9-1 mark in his first season in a limited schedule coming out of the COVID pandemic.

However, Nolan quickly turned around the program’s fortunes with an 18-player recruiting class that helped the Warriors to a 9-5-3 mark in 2021, including an 11-game unbeaten streak. William Jessup also earned the program’s first-ever tournament playoff berth, where it tied The Master’s University but fell on penalty kicks.

While coaching at Pomona-Pitzer, Nolan also had outside coaching experience as the head boys soccer coach at San Juan Hills High School from 2018-2020, as the assistant director of coaching with the San Clemente Surf Soccer Club from 2012-2020, and with the US Soccer Youth Training center as a clinic coach from 2016-18.

Originally from Dundalk, Ireland, Nolan came to the United States and played collegiate soccer for two seasons at California Baptist University and two seasons at La Sierra University, where he served as a team captain. He also earned the La Sierra Golden Eagle Award for being the top male athlete, as well as the Sportsmanship Award.

Nolan earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from La Sierra in 2013. He went on to earn a master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University in Irvine in 2018.