SAN FRANCISCO – USF women's soccer head coach
Jim Millinder, the 2015 NSCAA West Region Coach of the Year, secured a five-year contract extension on Wednesday, as announced by director of athletics
Scott Sidwell. Millinder's extension comes on the heels of the finest season in Dons women's soccer history as USF won a program-best 13 games in 2015, including program-bests with seven WCC victories and a second-place tie in the final conference standings.
"I'm excited and extremely thankful for the opportunity to continue building what we started at this outstanding institution," said Millinder, who took over prior to the 2012 season. "There's more work to be done, that's the bottom line. I think we're making some really good headway, but we certainly are on the right road. I'm excited with the group of players returning and the group coming in. I think the future is bright and it's all about investing in the hard work to get to the top of the WCC."
"Jim has done a great job with our women's soccer program in transforming it into a winning culture," said Sidwell. "We aspire for all of our teams to win at the highest level while excelling in the classroom and engaging in the community. Jim has set a high bar with a program record for wins last year. We expect to remain in the upper echelon of the WCC, win WCC titles and advance to the NCAA soccer championships for years to come."
Millinder's squad notched a pair of milestone victories over the course of the year. One of which was the team's first-ever win over then-No. 19 Santa Clara, a 1-0 road victory on Oct. 4. The other came towards the tail end of the season when the Dons upset then-No. 5 BYU 2-1 at home on Oct. 22, marking the highest-ranked opponent USF has ever defeated.
A total of six of Millinder's student-athletes took home All-WCC honors this past season, tying for the most in program history, while junior
Ali Schaffer (WCC co-Defender of the Year) became the first Don to ever earn a major conference award. Millinder also coached two first-team All-WCC performers in midfielder
Jessica Nakae and goalkeeper
Madalyn Schiffel, the first time since 1992 the Dons had a pair of first-teamers.
Schiffel, who was a freshman during Millinder's first year at USF, was drafted by the Washington Spirit in the 2016 NWSL College Draft on Jan. 15.
Millinder also saw two student-athletes earn NSCAA Scholar All-West Region honors (Nakae and Schaffer) this past year along with five WCC All-Academic honorees, including two first-team selections (Nakae and
Amanda Whittle). Altogether, Millinder's teams have placed five student-athletes on the WCC All-Academic first team during his tenure.
The 2015 season was Millinder's fourth with the Dons after taking over prior to the 2012 campaign. Millinder is 33-32-14 during his tenure on the Hilltop and boasts a career Division I coaching record of 177-129-39 with previous stops at USC (1996-2006) and Loyola Marymount (1994-1995).
A Southern California native, Millinder was a soccer and football standout at North Torrance High School before going on to an All-American soccer career at El Camino JC followed by an eight-year professional career split between the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. Millinder, who earned his Bachelor's degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1993, began his collegiate coaching career in 1978 as an assistant to both the men's and women's teams at El Camino JC before securing his first head coaching position in 1990 with the El Camino women's program.
Among his career coaching accolades are Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 1996 and 1998 while at USC, a 1997 NSCAA West Region Coach of the Year nod and eight NCAA Tournament appearances with the Trojans.
