CBU Athletics

Coe Michaelson was named the California Baptist University men's soccer head coach in January 2016 after holding the head coaching position at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. He's led the Lancers to a 61-38-10 record and a .560 winning percentage in his five seasons. 

Year two of NCAA eligibility saw Michaelson and his squad continue their success. The Lancers claimed a record 10 All-Conference awards from seven players, including major awards such as Thomas Beecham being named Defensive Player of the Year, and Drew Hardin earning Freshman of the Year. CBU earned a first-round bye after finishing the regular season in second-place, and remained undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference postseason, dismissing Utah Tech 2-0 in the second round, and then winning the WAC Tournament Championship against host UNLV, 2-1 in regulation.

That set up a first round NCAA Tournament match against the Toreros of USD in San Diego. The Lancers would avenge a 2-0 loss from earlier in the season after finishing the game in a 1-1 tie, but winning 4-3 on penalty kicks to advance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. They went on to face the tournaments overall #1 seed and 2020 National Champions, Marshall University, in Huntington, West Virginia. The Lancers would fall to the Thundering Herd 3-0, but finish the season with double-digit wins for the third straight season.

In 2022, the Lancers finished with a 11-7-3 record and placed fifth in the conference. In their first year eligible for the WAC Tournament, CBU hosted the tournament and went on a historic run, beating #4 Utah Valley, #1 Air Force, and #2 San Jose State to claim the Championship. In the championship game vs San Jose State it came down to penalty kicks were Tournament MOP Nolan Premack blocked the first attempt to set up the 3-1 victory. The CBU-hosted tournament set a conference record for attendance with 1,416. 

The Lancers claimed the WAC's NCAA automatic bid and competed in their first NCAA Tournament were they drew UCLA and lost in a close game 2-1 in Westwood. CBU received five All-WAC selection in 2022 with Thomas Beecham and Bryan Iliohan named to the First Team, David Cordes and Luis Mueller named to the Second Team, and Adolfo Pino landing on the All-Freshman team.

Back on schedule, the fall 2021 season was another positive leap for Lancer soccer. The squad finished the year 11-4-3 overall with a 6-3-2 WAC record, both single-season highs in the Division I era. Bryan Iliohan earned top honors for CBU by securing All-WAC First Team honors, just the second Lancer in program history to do so. The Lancers' closed out their four-year Division I transition period with winning record both overall (32-28-8 | 52.9%) and in conference play (21-18-4 | 53.5%).

In the delayed 2021 spring season, CBU closed out the campaign with a 6-4-2 overall record. Though picked to finish seventh in the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the Lancers' 5-4-1 conference record earned them a fourth-place finish on the league table.

This season was also the Lancers' most fruitful in terms of awards in the D-I era. Freshman defender Thomas Beecham led the effort as he closed the year earning All-WAC Second Team, All-Far West Region, College Soccer News All-Freshman Second Team and Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI Second Team honors. Captain Chris Heckenberg also captured All-Far West Region Second Team honors from the United Soccer Coaches. At the same time, Antonio Gomez and Luis Mueller, along with Beecham, earned All-WAC Freshman Team honors.

Overall, Michaelson has led CBU to a .500 record (26-22-5) in the ultra competitive Western Athletic Conference the last three years. 

In 2019, the Lancers scheduled stiff non-conference competition and finished the season 6-11-2, but .500 in WAC play at 5-5-1. 

In 2018, Michaelson earned his 100th career victory as a head coach in the Lancers' opening match against Saint Peter's. In the inaugural NCAA Division I campaign, CBU saw four players named All-WAC and finished the year at 9-9-1 overall. It was the best first transitional year record for teams playing a Division I schedule in the past 20 years.

During that 2018 season, Michaelson coached Preston Judd who would go on to lead the conference in scoring with 15 goals that year, earning the programs first major Division I accolades with First Team All-WAC and Second Team All-Far West Region honors. Judd, who spent two of his three collegiate seasons as a Lancer, would go on to drafted #35 overall by the LA Galaxy during the 2021 MLS SuperDraft.

Michaelson led CBU to its best finish in program history in 2017, as it finished the regular season undefeated with a 16-0-2 mark, picked up its highest NCAA ranking (No. 2), and hosted the first and second rounds of the postseason. As a result, the Lancers advanced to the West Region championship, ending the year with a 17-1-2 record – the most wins in program history.

After leading CBU to its first outright PacWest Championship, Michaelson was named the PacWest Coach of the Year. That year, the Lancers grabbed their best-undefeated streak (19 games), boasted the best scoring offense in D-II (averaging 2.95 goals per game), and the seventh-best goals-against-average (.582) – which set a new school record. Both of which are also program-bests for CBU in the NCAA era.

That year, CBU finished with multiple new school single-season records, including most consecutive wins (9), most assists (59), fewest goals allowed (12), and most shutouts (11). Aidan Apodaca went on to become the program's all-time leading scorer (48 goals) while breaking single-season (29) and single-game (5) scoring records, as well. In addition, he was named the PacWest and West Region Player of the Year after leading all of NCAA (Divisions I, II, and III) in scoring. Abe Placito also grabbed some postseason accolades, being named the PacWest Defender of the Year and joining Apodaca on the All-America team – the first time Lancers had been named All-Americans since joining the NCAA.

Apodaca became the first Lancer drafted to Major League Soccer (MLS), signing a professional contract, along with Joey Chica.

In Michaelson's first year at the helm in 2016, CBU grabbed its most wins since joining the NCAA, and the second-most home wins in program history. The Lancers went 12-6 and ranked in the top-30 in multiple offensive statistical categories in the NCAA Division II.

Notably, the squad owned a 2.923 cumulative GPA the season before Michaelson and assistant coach Stephen Marshall took over. Since then, the team has made an incredible improvement as they finished the 2020-21 school year with a 3.466 cumulative GPA. It ranked as the third-highest men's team GPA in the CBU Athletics Department at the end of the 2020-21 year.

Before CBU, Michaelson was named the Coach of the Year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the NCAA Division II West Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2014. He was also a finalist for the Division II Coach of the Year that season.

Over his time at NNU, Michaelson boasted a 70-58-16 record and led NNU to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in program history in 2014, finishing the campaign with a 15-4-1 overall record, the most in school history.

Michaelson brings international experience as a member of the community coaching staff with English Premier League's Liverpool FC in 2005. He played semiprofessional soccer in the United Kingdom with Warrington Town AFC and Marine AFC, along with Deportivo Las Rozas in Spain. He was also a two-time All-American at the College of Idaho. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and education in 2002 and a Master's in teaching in 2003.

In addition to his duties at NNU, Michaelson served as the Technical Director at the Boise Nationals Soccer Club since 2006 and as an age group assistant coach in the Region IV Olympic Development Program since 2012.

Michaelson holds a USSF A License, an NSCAA Premier "With Distinction" License, and US Youth Soccer National Youth License.

Off the pitch, Michaelson earned his PhD in Leadership Studies through CBU in 2023. His dissertation is one of the only quantitative studies that exists examining the impact of a leadership development program with college student-athletes, including formal leaders, informal leaders, and non-leaders.

Michaelson and his wife Stephanie have two sons, Luke and Isaac.

 

		OVERALL				CONFERENCE
YEAR	SCHOOL	W	L	T	PERCENT	W	L	T	PERCENT	CONF.
2008	NNU	10	8	2	.550	2	5	1	.313	GNAC
2009	NNU	5	11	1	.324	0	7	1	.063	GNAC
2010	NNU	8	8	0	.500	4	6	0	.400	GNAC
2011	NNU	5	9	1	.367	1	8	0	.111	GNAC
2012	NNU	9	4	5	.639	8	2	4	.714	GNAC
2013	NNU	5	7	5	.441	5	6	3	.464	GNAC
2014	NNU	15	4	1	.775	11	2	1	.821	GNAC
2015	NNU	12	6	1	.658	8	5	1	.607	GNAC
2016	CBU	12	6	0	.667	8	5	0	.615	PacWest
2017	CBU	17	1	2	.900	12	0	1	.962	PacWest
2018	CBU	9	9	1	.500	5	6	0	.455	WAC
2019	CBU	6	11	2	.368	5	5	1	.500	WAC
2021 - Spring	CBU	6	4	2	.583	5	4	1	.550	WAC
2021 - Fall	CBU	11	4	3	.694	6	3	2	.636	WAC
2022	CBU	11	7	3	.523	4	3	2	.444	WAC
2023	CBU	10	6	4	.600	5	1	2	.750	WAC
Northwest Nazarene		69	57	16	.542	39	41	11	.489
California Baptist		82	48	17	.616	50	27	9	.634
California Baptist (DI)		53	41	15	.554	30	22	8	.567
CAREER		151	105	33	.580	89	68	20	.559