Entering his ninth season at the helm of the Rutgers men's soccer program, Dan Donigan and his Scarlet Knights are ready to face another challenging schedule with ultimate goal of climbing up the standings and returning to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2015 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Donigan returned the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Tournament and the Top 25 three seasons ago. With five All-Big Ten honorees, including the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, and MLS draftees Mitch Lurie and Mitch Taintor, Rutgers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the year ranked in the Top 25 in both the NSCAA and College Soccer News Polls. The 2015 Scarlet Knights finished 12-7-2 overall, with the most wins since 2011 and most shutouts since 1998. Predicted to finish eighth in the Big Ten, Rutgers ended the regular season in a tie for third place and at one point took over first place in the Big Ten standings. As a team, RU finished in the top 20 nationally in six statistical categories, while individually, seven Scarlet Knights were ranked among the top 10 in the Big Ten in 15 different statistical categories.
Donigan helped to usher in a new era for Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights joined the prestigious and competitive Big Ten Conference in 2014. The 2014 squad earned the first-ever Big Ten regular season victory and post-season win by any team "On The Banks". Additionally, forward Jason Wright was a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, leading the Scarlet Knights with the most goals scored in a season since 2003.
The Scarlet Knights continued to play a challenging schedule in 2013 and made a run to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Along the way, Rutgers exploded for five goals in the tournament opener, upset top-seeded and seventh-ranked Louisville in the conference quarterfinals and took eventual conference champion USF to double overtime in the semifinals at Toyota Park in Frisco, Texas. Kene Eze also became the first Scarlet Knight of the Donigan Era to be selected in the MLS SuperDraft.
In Donigan's third season, the Scarlet Knights fought through injuries and played one of the strongest schedules in the country, finishing just shy of a BIG EAST Tournament bid and more importantly, an NCAA berth. RU closed out the 2012 campaign at No. 35 in the RPI, falling short of qualifying for the 48-team College Cup bracket. The Scarlet Knights took on six opponents that reached the NCAA Tournament, including national runner-up Georgetown and Final Four participant Creighton.
In just his second season at Rutgers, Donigan helped erase a four-year post-season drought, as Rutgers earned an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament, its first since 2006. The Scarlet Knights did not stop at just qualifying for postseason play, instead the squad made a splash by getting past first round opponent Colgate and upsetting No. 4 seed and eighth-ranked Boston College en route to the Sweet 16. The third round matchup with UCLA marked the first Sweet 16 appearance for RU since 2001.
The Scarlet Knights captured the best turnaround in BIG EAST history since the league moved to a 16-member, two-division format in 2005 that season. After an inexperienced squad went just 1-8-0 in 2009, Donigan and the Scarlet Knights amassed a 6-2-1 conference record to finish second in the Red Division.
In addition to a stellar postseason run, Donigan and his coaching staff also collected some hardware as the group was recognized as the NSCAA Coach of the Year (Northeast region), his third such award. Proving its success was not limited to just play on the field, Rutgers also received the NSCAA College Team Academic Award.
Arriving `On the Banks' after nine successful seasons at Saint Louis University, Donigan led the Billikens to seven NCAA appearances, including a second round showing at the 2009 tournament. He posted a 118-42-23 (.708) overall record in nine seasons at Saint Louis. The Hamilton, New Jersey native was a three-time conference and two-time NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year while at Saint Louis, guiding the Billikens to a pair of trips to the quarterfinals in seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
While at Saint Louis, Donigan coached seven NSCAA All-Americans, 36 NSCAA All-Region selections and 65 student-athletes who received all-conference (C-USA, A-10) honors. In addition, Donigan mentored 11 players that garnered conference player of the year accolades.
Success in the classroom is also stressed with Donigan-led programs. The Scarlet Knights have been recipients of the NSCAA College Team Academic Award for achieving a 3.0 or higher grade point average in five of the last six seasons. During his tenure, Donigan has had a total of four NSCAA Scholar All-Americans, four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and 14 student-athletes named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. The 2016 squad earned a cumulative 3.179 GPA, including a 3.209 spring term average, marking the sixth time over the last seven years RU has boasted a 3.0 or higher team grade point average. Eighteen Scarlet Knights have landed on the All-Big Ten Academic Team with four members of the 2016 team earning the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award for boasting over a 3.7 GPA for the 2016-17 academic year.
Donigan began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the University of Connecticut, his alma mater, in 1994. He spent three seasons with the Huskies before joining the Saint Louis staff as an assistant from 1997-2000.
With over a decade of coaching experience on various levels, Donigan possesses a vast array of knowledge for the game. He holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "A" coaching license as well as an NSCAA Advanced National Coaching Diploma. In addition to collegiate coaching, Donigan has held posts on the staff of camps and Olympic Development Programs for several years.
A member of the USSF national staff of coaches, Donigan is certified to assist with coaching courses. He joined the national staff in 2002, and in 2008, he hosted the Coach It Right Soccer Clinic, a free seminar offered to youth coaches and parents emphasizing the positives of the sport.
Donigan also enjoyed great success in helping his former players advance their careers to the professional ranks. During his time, 15 student-athletes have been drafted by Major League Soccer (MLS), five total by the USL and MISL, as well as a number who have played overseas.
Having carved out quite an illustrious playing career as one of the most heralded collegiate soccer players at the University of Connecticut from 1985-88, Donigan was a three-time All-American and First Team All-New England forward. He also was selected as the BIG EAST Conference Northern Division Player of the Year in his final two seasons. As part of the BIG EAST's 10-year anniversary in 1991, Donigan was further honored by his selection as the BIG EAST Player of the Decade.
Donigan received the Adidas Adi Dassler Award as the nation's "Most Outstanding Senior Soccer Player" in 1988. He also was one of 11 players selected as a 1988 Soccer America MVP, registering team highs of 11 goals and 11 assists while leading UConn to its third NCAA Tournament berth in four seasons. An All-America pick his final three seasons, Donigan was a finalist for Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior. He finished his career at Connecticut with 35 goals and 40 assists for 110 points. In the UConn record book, he ranks sixth in all-time scoring, third in career assists and tied for ninth in career goals.
Donigan began playing professionally in 1990. His longest tenure was with the Milwaukee Wave of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), where he appeared in 92 matches over two stints from 1992-94, then again from 1996-97. He registered 100 goals with the Wave. Getting his start on the professional circuit playing for the Boston Bolts and Penn-Jersey Spirit, he also played outdoor soccer for the Tampa Rowdies, Washington Warthogs and Rockford Raptors. Donigan's indoor teams included the Wichita Wings, St. Louis Storm, St. Louis Ambush and St. Louis Steamers.
Scholastically, Donigan attended Steinert High School in Hamilton Township. He scored 34 goals in his senior year, leading Steinert to the Group III State Championship. In 1999, he was named by the Star-Ledger as one of the top 10 New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1980s.
Donigan earned a degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut and later completed his master's degree in higher education at Saint Louis University.
Donigan married the former Corey Stephens in 2008 and the couple has two sons, Kaden and Brody.
DONIGAN BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 169-124-37
(C-USA 2001-04; A-10 2005-09; BIG EAST 2011-12; American 2013; Big Ten 2014-present)
Coach of the Year:
Big Ten - 2015
NSCAA Northeast Region - 2011
NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region - 2007
Atlantic-10 - 2007
Atlantic-10 - 2006
NSCAA Midwest Region - 2003
Conference-USA - 2001
NCAA Appearances:
2015 - Second Round
2011 - Third Round
2009 - Second Round
2008 - Second Round
2007 - First Round
2006 - Second Round
2003 - Quarterfinals
2002 - Third Round
2001 - Quarterfinals
Conference Tournament Championships:
Atlantic-10 - 2009
Conference-USA - 2001, 02, 03
Award Winners:
NSCAA All-Americans (8)
NSCAA All-Region Selections (42)
All-Conference Selections (75)
Conference Player of the Year Honorees (12)
NSCAA Scholar All-Americans (5)
CoSIDA Academic All-District Team members (14)
CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (4)
MLS Players:
MLS Draft Picks (15)
MLS Combine Invitees (16)
