Chris Grassie
English football coach (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Grassie (born 21 September 1978)[1] is an English football coach who is the head coach of the Marshall University men's soccer team. During his tenure as coach of the Herd, he led the program to 3 Conference USA trophies, 1 Sun Belt Conference trophy, and the 2020 NCAA National Championship.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Chris Grassie | ||
| Date of birth | 21 September 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Marshall Thundering Herd (coach) | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –2002 | Alderson Broaddus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | Northwich Victoria F.C. | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003 | Alderson Broaddus Battlers (assistant) | ||
| 2004–2006 | Marshall Thundering Herd (grad assistant) | ||
| 2007–2010 | Michigan Wolverines (assistant) | ||
| 2011–2016 | Charleston Golden Eagles | ||
| 2017– | Marshall Thundering Herd | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
As a player at Alderson Broaddus, Grassie was named to the all-conference team multiple times and was a team captain. He majored in political science and history.[3]
Grassie played in England from 2002 to 2003 with Northwich Victoria F.C.
Coaching career
Grassie began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia. After one season, he became a graduate assistant at Marshall University under coach Bob Gray from 2004 to 2006.[3]
Grassie would move on to become an assistant coach at the University of Michigan from 2007 to 2010. The Wolverines won the Big Ten championship in 2010 and advanced to the 2010 College Cup semifinals, losing to eventual national champion Akron. After the 2010 season, Grassie accepted the head coaching position at the University of Charleston.
During his 6 seasons at Charleston, Grassie would win 6 conference tournaments and 5 regular season titles as the Golden Eagles moved from the now-defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to the Mountain East Conference. While at Charleston, Grassie coached eight All-Americans and four former players landed professional contracts. His teams advanced to 3 NCAA Division II Final Fours, finishing runner-up twice.
Grassie became head coach of the Marshall Thundering Herd on January 10, 2017. Days after winning the 2020 NCAA Tournament, Grassie was recognized as the United Soccer Coaches College Coach of the Year for the season[4] and was given a five-year contract extension through 2025 with a pay increase from $122,000 to $375,750 annually.[5]
On 13 June 2024 Marshall University announced a six-year extension for Chris Grassie that would keep him with The Thundering Herd through the 2031 season.[6]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Golden Eagles (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (2011–2012) | |||||||||
| 2011 | Charleston | 13–6–0 | 8–4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2012 | Charleston | 13–2–4 | 9–0–0 | 1st | NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| Charleston Golden Eagles (Mountain East Conference) (2013–2016) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Charleston | 12–5–1 | 9–3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2014 | Charleston | 22–1–1 | 11–0–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II Runner-up | ||||
| 2015 | Charleston | 20–3–0 | 10–2–0 | 1st | NCAA Division II College Cup | ||||
| 2016 | Charleston | 19–3–2 | 9–2–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II Runner-up | ||||
| Charleston: | 99–20–8 | 56–11–3 | |||||||
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Conference USA) (2017–2021) | |||||||||
| 2017 | Marshall | 8–10–2 | 3–5–0 | 6th | |||||
| 2018 | Marshall | 8–9–3 | 3–3–2 | 5th | |||||
| 2019 | Marshall | 16–3–3 | 5–1–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Third Round | ||||
| 2020 | Marshall | 13–2–3 | 6–0–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Champions | ||||
| 2021 | Marshall | 11–4–3 | 5–1–2 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Sun Belt Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
| 2022 | Marshall | 11–4–4 | 4–1–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Third Round | ||||
| 2023 | Marshall | 18–3–0 | 7–2–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Third Round | ||||
| 2024 | Marshall | 15–2–7 | 4–0–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Runner-up | ||||
| 2025 | Marshall | 12–4–5 | 6–2–1 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| Marshall: | 112–42–30 | 43–15–15 | |||||||
| Total: | 211–62–38 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Honours
Coaching
University of Charleston
- WVIAC Tournament & regular season champions: 2011, 2012
- MEC regular season champion: 2014, 2015, 2016
- MEC Tournament champions: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- NCAA Division II Runner Up: 2014, 2016
Marshall University
- Conference USA regular season champions: 2019, 2020
- Conference USA Tournament champions: 2019
- Sun Belt Conference regular season champions: 2023
- Sun Belt Tournament champions: 2023
- NCAA College Cup: 2020
Individual
- MEC Coach of the Year: 2014,[7] 2015[8]
- C-USA Coach of the Year: 2019,[9] 2020[10]
- United Soccer Coaches College Coach of the Year: 2020
- Top Drawer Soccer Coach of the Year: 2020-21[11]