BOSTON – Kevin Nylen was introduced as the sixth head coach of the Boston University men's soccer team on Thursday evening at a reception held in Eilberg Lounge overlooking Nickerson Field. He was joined by his wife, Michelle, daughter, Pearl, and son, Teddy.
A native of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Nylen returns to the Commonwealth following a three-year head-coaching stint at Florida International in which he led the Panthers to a pair of top-35 RPI finishes, highlighted by an unbeaten 11-0-4 regular season record in 2017. He replaces Neil Roberts (1985-2019), who retired at the end of his 35th season at the helm and will later be honored by the BU department of athletics this fall.
An All-American defender at Saint Anselm (1999-02), Nylen played for six years in the professional ranks and then started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Amherst College in 2009. While in Miami, the 2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year led FIU to an overall record of 29-15-9 (.632). This past season, the Panthers were one of the last teams left out of the NCAA tournament with an RPI ranking of 35 and a 10-3-5 record. Andrew Booth was tabbed the 2019 C-USA Midfielder of the Year, while Nick O'Callaghan was named the conference's Co-Defensive MVP. Earlier in January, goalkeeper Daniel Gagliardi became the third FIU player in as many years to be selected in the top two rounds of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
After helping guide Amherst College to the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division III tournament, Nylen spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Boston College, where he helped guide the Eagles to a combined 24-11-6 record from 2010-11 with two NCAA Division I appearances. The 2010 team advanced to the ACC semifinals and followed that up with an appearance in the 2011 ACC title game. Nylen then moved south to FIU to serve as an assistant from 2012-15.
Nylen was named to the FIU post in December of 2016 after spending the previous year as the chief scout and U16 head coach with the Orlando City SC (Major League Soccer) Development Academy. In his first season on the sideline as head coach at FIU, Nylen guided the Panthers to one of the best seasons in the program's history, recording a 12-2-4 record and a 6-0-2 mark in Conference USA, and the team's first-ever C-USA regular season title. Ranked as high as No. 8 nationally, FIU was also one of only two teams in Division I men's soccer to claim an unbeaten regular season record, joining Indiana, and later advanced to the second round of the NCAAs.
During the 2017 campaign, the Panthers garnered four NSCAA All-Southeast Region honors after Santiago Patino was named Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and the C-USA Golden Boot Recipient. Patino was also named a First Team All-American and a semifinalist for the prestigious Hermann Trophy. Paul Marie was named a Third Team All-American before becoming the first-round pick of the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
