Email: christopher.t.mclain@villanova.edu

 

Chris McLain arrived at FC Bucks with a wealth of youth and college coaching experience and a true excitement about his role as the Director of Coaching.  Stating upon his arrival: ”It is a true honor to be part of such an incredible club. FC Bucks has been producing some of the greatest soccer talent out of the Eastern PA region for years. My family and I couldn’t be more excited to join the FC Bucks Nation. I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the coaches, the impact this club has had on its community and the history of the clubs successes.” 

He is also the Head Coach of Villanova University Women’s Soccer program. When arriving at Villanova his goal was quite basic, get the program back on the right track. Needless to say, in just his third year as head coach, McLain has lead Villanova back to its winning ways, with a 10-7-3 record. Villanova now has the highest winning percentage (.575) and the first winning record since 2009.

McLain came to Villanova from The Ohio State University, where he served as the women’s soccer Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.  Prior to Ohio State, he previously spent 11 seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Colgate University. 

During his two seasons at Ohio State, McLain helped to elevate a 6-10-3 Buckeyes program back into a place of national prominence.  He led the team from a 6 win season to a 13 win season in just his 1^st year there. The team advanced to the NCAA Tournament in both 2015 and 2016, reaching the Sweet 16 his 1^st year and the second round his final season.  While at Ohio State, he had a 24-14-6 overall record in his two seasons as an associate head coach on the coaching staff.  The program was ranked in the top 30 of the RPI in each of McLain’s two years in Columbus, finishing at No. 27 in his final year and No. 21 in his first season. 

Among the players that McLain worked with at Ohio State were 2016 seniors Lindsay Agnew and Nichelle Prince.  Both are members of the Canadian Women’s National Team and participated in the World Cup. They were among the four Buckeyes who were named second team All-Big Ten selections.  McLain was also instrumental in putting together Ohio State’s recruiting class which paid immediate dividends during the 2016 and 2017 season.  Freshman defender Haley Walker-Robinson started all 21 games for a Buckeyes defense which tallied six shutouts and surrendered fewer than five shots on goal per game.

Prior to his stint at Ohio State, McLain spent 11 years as Associate Head Coach in the Colgate program that enjoyed an unprecedented level of success for a Patriot League program.  The Raiders won 118 (11 wins/season avg.) games during McLain’s time there, and the team captured five Patriot League regular season titles and three Patriot League tournament championships.  McLain was a part of three NCAA Tournament berths with the Raiders, and in 2004 the program became the first from the Patriot League to win an NCAA Tournament game when Colgate knocked off nationally-ranked Pac-10 champion Arizona in the first round of the tournament.  That was in McLain’s first season with the Raiders, when the team went 13-7-2 and won both the regular season and postseason Patriot League crowns. 

McLain played a direct role in Colgate’s recruiting efforts as an associate head coach, and he was responsible for bringing three Patriot League Offensive Players of the Year, one league Defensive Player of the Year, six Patriot League Freshmen of the Year and three conference tournament MVPs into the program. 

In addition to his assistant coaching stops at Colgate and Ohio State, McLain has two years of head coaching experience at his alma mater, Eastern Nazarene College, in Quincy, Mass.  He led the Lions for the 2002 and 2003 seasons while coaching a young program that was only in its fifth year of existence when he took over as head coach. 

McLain has also been heavily involved in soccer at the youth level and is active in the Olympic Development Program.  He served on the Antigua National Team coaching staff in 2012 and the U-18 U.S. National Team staff in 2008.  He holds an Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaching Association of America (NSCAA) and a U.S. Soccer Federation “A” Coaching License.

McLain graduated from Eastern Nazarene with a degree in general sciences and a minor in Chemistry.  He and his wife, Claire, are parents of three children: Maeghan, Gavin and Caitlin.