WSU women’s soccer coach resigns after 13 months on job

After only 13 months on the job, Washington State women’s soccer coach Steve Nugent unexpectedly announced his resignation Monday afternoon.

Citing personal reasons, Nugent said he would resign effective March 15.

“It is with great sadness that I resign today,” Nugent said in a statement. “I am so thankful for the support we have received since coming to Pullman, and I could not imagine working with two finer people than my assistant coaches, Sandy (Davidson) and Jon (Harvey).”

Efforts to reach Nugent for further comment were unsuccessful.

In his lone season at WSU, the 43-year-old Nugent led the Cougars to a 10-5-4 record and a fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. It was the fourth straight double-digit-win season for the Cougars.

Nugent also coached three players to All-Pac-12 Conference and two players to All-Region honors, as well as nine players who received Pac-12 All-Academic recognition.

Nugent presided over a team awards banquet on Feb. 21, but was not present during a team event last weekend.

Only two weeks ago, on Feb. 25, Nugent announced the signing of a recruiting class that was ranked in the top 25 in NCAA Division I, according to TopDrawerSoccer.com.

“We have some outstanding talent and a highly ranked incoming recruiting class as the result of Steve’s work,” Athletic director Bill Moos said in a statement.

“We respect Steve’s decision and wish him and his family the very best in the years to come.”

Nugent, a 1996 graduate of Florida Atlantic, and his wife, Janna, have three sons, Trevor, Brady and Connor.

Nugent replaced Keidane McAlpine, who left in December 2013 after two seasons to take over at Southern California.

Nugent is the sixth head coach in program history.