Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Named Regional Staff of the Year
May 12, 2021 | Men's Soccer
Nichols & his staff earn honor after guiding Falcons to a MAC title
Bowling Green State University men's soccer coach Eric Nichols and his staff have received a prestigious honor. On Tuesday (May 11), the BGSU staff was named an NCAA Regional Staff of the Year by United Soccer Coaches.
Nichols and his staff were named the North Region Staff of the Year. The honor is the result of a vote by other coaches in the region. The BGSU staff will now be placed on the National Staff of the Year ballot.
Nichols and his staff, which includes associate head coach Sean Teepen, assistant coach Nate Kopunek and volunteer assistant Tom Wrobel, guided the 2020(-21) Falcons to the Mid-American Conference regular-season title and a berth in the NCAA Championships. BGSU won the MAC's regular-season championship outright for the first time since 1996 and just the second time since the MAC began sponsoring the sport in '93. The Falcons advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1997.
The Falcons went 5-2-1 in conference play, including a 3-0-1 mark at Cochrane Stadium, and BG now has a record of 25-14-4 over the last 43Â matches, dating to late in the 2018 season.
Nichols also was named the MAC Coach of the Year this season, and a league-high six players were named to the All-MAC Team.
The USC National Staff of the Year will be announced on or about May 20, and the USC will celebrate all 43 (21 men's and 22 women's across NCAA Divisions I, II and III) staffs receiving Regional Staff of the Year honors at the College Coaches Awards Ceremony, which will be made available to view online as a digital event beginning June 30.
For more information on the men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUmenssoccer), Instagram (bgsumenssoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
| Men's Regional Staff of the Year | ||
| NCAA Division I | ||
| Region | School | Head Coach |
| Atlantic | James Madison University | Paul Zazenski |
| East | Seton Hall University | Andreas Lindberg |
| Far West | United States Air Force Academy | Doug Hill |
| North | Bowling Green State University | Eric Nichols |
| Northeast | St. Francis College Brooklyn | Tom Giavatto |
| South | Clemson University | Michael Noonan |
| Southeast | Marshall University | Chris Grassie |
| West | Loyola Marymount University | Paul Krumpe |
