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Tim O'Donohue
Tim O’Donohue enters his eighth season as the head coach of Navy’s men’s soccer program in 2023, coming off a 2022 campaign that saw the Midshipmen win the Patriot League Championship and earn Navy’s 12th NCAA Tournament appearance.
O’Donohue is currently tied for the 63rd-highest all-time NCAA winning percentage across all divisions at .717 (212-71-42). On the list of NCAA all-time winningest head coaches, O’Donohue’s winning percentage is sixth-best among active NCAA Division I head coaches and 24th overall across all divisions.
Just the sixth head coach in the 103-year history of the Navy men’s soccer program, O’Donohue spent five seasons (2011-2015) as the associate head coach at the University of Connecticut and 10 seasons (2001-10) as the head coach at Division III Stevens Institute of Technology prior to arriving at Navy and winning 47 games across his first seven seasons.
A storybook 2022 season was capped by Navy claiming its first Patriot League title and NCAA Tournament berth under O’Donohue, as the Mids posted a 7-5-9 overall record and a 3-1-5 mark to earn their second-consecutive trip to the league tournament. Tallying three straight postseason shutouts to advance to and win the Patriot League Championship game, Navy then traveled to regional foe Georgetown in the NCAA First Round, where the Mids were able to keep even with the Hoyas until the second half.
Key to the 2022 team’s success was the defensive effort of the Mids, as the .793 team save percentage ranked second in the league and 17th nationally while a 0.895 team goals against average finished 29th in the NCAA. O’Donohue’s squad also played a disciplined game, tallying the fourth-fewest yellow cards in the nation (19) and averaging 9.19 fouls per game to rank ninth-best in the country.
Individually, David Jackson became the first Navy player to win Patriot League Midfielder of the Year and joined JD Wagner on the All-Patriot League First Team, highlighting the Mids’ four all-league selections. Jackson and Wagner both earned All-Atlantic Region and All-ECAC honors as well, while Patriot League Tournament MVP Zach Wagner led a contingent of four Navy players named to the league’s all-tournament team.
During the 2021 season, O’Donohue led the Midshipmen to a 12-6-1 record while going 5-4-0 in the Patriot League, earning the Mids their second Patriot League Tournament berth in the last three seasons. Additionally, Navy earned its first victory in the league tournament since the 2013 season, a 1-0 win over Lehigh, earning a berth to the tournament semifinals.
Navy opened the season with a six-game unbeaten streak that included winning five-straight contests, before ultimately starting another winning streak that resulted in coming away with four-straight victories.
The Mids proved to be one of the top offensive teams in the Patriot League, scoring 33 goals, their most since scoring 37 in 2013. Additionally, Navy produced one of the top-defensive efforts in the country, tallying 10 shutouts along with allowing just 20 goals for an average of just 1.05 per game.
Matt Nocita and Jacob Williams were named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, respectively, under the direction of O’Donohue. Nocita became the first Patriot League men’s soccer player to earn the award three times in their career while Williams garnered Offensive Player of the Year honors for the first time in his career. Navy produced eight All-Patriot League selections, tied for the most in program history, along with being the third-straight season the Midshipmen have tallied seven or more All-League honorees.
To round out the 2021 season accolades, Nocita was selected seventh overall in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft by the New York Red Bulls, making the senior standout the highest-drafted player in program history along with being the highest-drafted men’s soccer player in Patriot League history.
During the 2020-21 season, O’Donohue guided the Midshipmen to a record of 4-2-1 overall while going 3-1-1 in the Patriot League and Navy finished tied for second in the Patriot League South Division. Navy started the season with four-straight wins, which started with a road win over North Carolina State, 2-1. The Midshipmen also won an exhibition match over Virginia – who came into the year as the defending national runner-up – on the road, 3-2.
O’Donohue coached the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in David Jackson, marking the second time in three years the Midshipmen produced the Rookie of the Year in the Patriot League. Matt Nocita was also named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season.
Navy produced seven All-Patriot Leaguers during the 2020-21 season, which is tied for second-most in program history and was the second-straight season the Midshipmen had seven all-league selections. Navy also produced four United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region selections, which marked the second-straight season the Midshipmen had four all-region honorees and was the first time in program history Navy had four all-region selections in back-to-back seasons.
In 2019, O’Donohue paced Navy to one of its best seasons in program history as the Midshipmen finished with a record of 12-4-1, with the 12 victories being tied for third-most in program single-season history. Navy also finished third in the Patriot League standings with a 5-3-1 mark and the Midshipmen hosted a Patriot League Tournament game for the first time since 2013.
O’Donohue guided Navy to its longest winning streak in program history since its national championship season in 1964 as Navy captured 15-straight wins over the end of the 2018 season and the start of the 2019 campaign. The Midshipmen’s 11-0-0 start in 2019 was the program’s best since 1964 when Navy went 15-0-0 en route to the national title.
Throughout the 2019 season, O’Donohue helped Navy post a top-five mark in shutout percentage (.588) and goals-against average (.574), with both ranking fourth in the country. Navy also ranked eighth in save percentage at .818 and ninth in shot accuracy with a mark of .484.
O’Donohue also coached the 2019 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in Matt Nocita, and in total the Midshipmen had seven All-Patriot League honorees, which was second-most in the league. Nocita and Jacob Williams were named to the First Team All-Patriot League, Wyatt Millard, Tyler Collins and Ian Bramblett earned second team honors while Diego Manrique and Nicko West were third-team honorees. Navy also set a program record with five United Soccer Coaches All-Region selections, as Nocita (first team), Collins (second team), Bramblett (third team), Millard (third team) and Williams (third team) represented Navy on the All-Atlantic Region team.
During the 2018 season, O’Donohue coached Navy to a fifth-place finish in the Patriot League regular season standings after going 4-5-0 in league play. The Midshipmen finished the season with a record of 5-11-1 overall following a four-game winning streak to end the year. Over the final four games of the regular season, Navy outscored the opposition 9-2 and notched a pair of shutouts.
O’Donohue coached the 2018 Patriot League Rookie of the Year in Jacob Williams and coached Third Team All-Patriot League member Matt Nocita. Williams finished second in the league with 0.50 goals per game and was fourth with 1.00 points per game, as his eight goals were second-most in the Patriot League. Nocita was the only player for the Midshipmen to play all 1,557 minutes of the 2018 season.
Additionally, Navy was one of the least penalized teams in the country during the 2018 season as it ranked eighth overall in NCAA Division I with an average of just 9.06 fouls per game, which was also the best in the Patriot League.
In his second season at Navy in 2017, the Midshipmen battled rival Army West Point to a 0-0 double-overtime draw in the Star Game and Army-Navy Cup VI, which was played in front of 8,143 fans at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa., making the Army-Navy game the third-highest attended college men’s soccer game in 2017.
As a team, Navy ranked first in the Patriot League and eighth in the NCAA in saves per game (5.47) in 2017, and senior goalkeeper Mac Burke ranked sixth in the country in saves per game (5.41) and eighth in total saves (92). Navy was 2-13-2 (0-7-2 PL) in 2017.
Despite having less than two months to prepare for Navy’s 2016 season opener when he was hired, O’Donohue’s first team showed great potential for his program in the coming years, as they were resilient, spirited and composed. Navy battled in every contest, with 12 games in 2016 decided by one goal while four more ended in ties.
The Mids were 5-9-4 overall and 1-6-2 in the Patriot League, but Navy used its home-field advantage by going 4-1-3 in games played at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility in 2016. Navy also was ranked fifth in the NSCAA Northeast Region Poll on Sept. 6, 2016 after a 1-1-1 start to the season.
Brock Dudley was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team in 2016, while Sam Bascom was named to the All-Patriot League Third Team. Goalkeeper Mac Burke led the Patriot League in goals-against average (1.05).
Prior to his arrival at Navy, O’Donohue spent five years at UConn on Ray Reid’s staff, and helped take the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament four times, including three straight appearances in the NCAA Quarterfinals from 2011-13. The Huskies had an overall record of 68-22-21 (.707) during O’Donohue’s tenure in Storrs.
In his first season at UConn in 2011, the Huskies went 19-3-3 and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals, then followed that season with a 17-4-1 record in 2012 and another trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Huskies made their third straight quarterfinals appearance in 2013 with a 12-3-8 mark. In his final season at UConn in 2015, O’Donohoe helped the squad to a 10-6-6 mark and an appearance in the NCAA Second Round after defeating Boston University in the first round.
O’Donohue had an overall record of 165-21-23 at Stevens and his winning percentage of .844 was the highest in NCAA Division III history when he left Stevens to serve as the associate head coach at UConn. O’Donohue took Stevens to the NCAA Tournament in nine of his 10 seasons, as the Ducks advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 six times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009) and were the national runners-up in 2008 after Messiah claimed the national title by advancing past Stevens in a penalty kick shootout. Stevens won the ECAC Championship in 2002 and O’Donohue led the Ducks to an unbeaten record of 18-0-3 in 2006.
O’Donohue led Stevens to nine conference championships during his tenure. After joining the Empire 8 in 2007, O’Donohue led Stevens to the conference championship in four straight seasons (2007-10) before departing for UConn. Prior to joining the Empire 8, the Ducks won the Skyline Conference Championship in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
The Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 2003 and the Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year in 2010, O’Donohue was also named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Metro Region Coach of the Year in 2003 and was a finalist for the Division III NSCAA National Coach of the Year in both 2003 and 2008. Stevens was ranked in the final NSCAA Poll in each of O’Donohue’s final eight seasons with the school.
O’Donohue coached 12 All-Americans while at Stevens with four earning first-team honors. O’Donohue also coached seven conference players of the year, 39 NSCAA All-Region performers, five CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, and 77 all-conference athletes while at Stevens.
O’Donohue holds several merits from the NSCAA including a Premier Diploma and a Master Coach Diploma. He was one of the first five coaches to earn a Master Diploma at the NCAA level. He also previously served as the Region III Technical Director for the NSCAA.
O’Donohoe was a four-year starter at Muhlenberg College and helped the team to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a berth in the Final Four in 1995, with the central midfielder earning all-conference honors in 1997. He was inducted into the Muhlenberg Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007 as part of the 1995 men’s soccer team. He graduated from Muhlenberg in 1998 with a degree in English. O’Donohue and his wife, Virginia, have four children, Tadgh, Tierney, Teagan and Ruairi.
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