Temple will not renew the contract of men’s soccer coach David MacWilliams, per a university release.
MacWilliams and his assistants won the 2013 American Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year Award. Two-time Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Hannigan and 2017 MLS SuperDraft pick Jorge Gomez Sanchez are among players he has coached.
A national search for a new coach will begin, according to the release.
“On behalf of all of us in the Temple Family, I want to thank Dave for his service and commitment to our University and to the hundreds of young men who came through his program,” Athletic Director Pat Kraft said in the university statement. “We have high expectations at Temple and I believe we need a fresh voice leading us forward. We wish Dave and Beth and their children all of the best in the future.”
In 18 seasons, MacWilliams compiled a 140-164-34 record. Temple’s season ended on Friday in the American Athletic Conference semifinal with a loss to Southern Methodist, the No. 17 team in the Ratings Percentage Index and eventual conference champion.
The Owls won four of their past five regular-season games before their tournament loss.
Because Temple is ranked 88th in the RPI and only 48 teams make the NCAA tournament, it needed to win the conference tournament to clinch its first NCAA berth since 1985.
The Owls (9-8-1, 4-3 The American) made the conference tournament this season after missing it last year. Temple lost to South Florida in the inaugural postseason tournament in The American and lost to Connecticut in the 2014 and 2015 American Athletic Conference tournaments. The Owls didn’t score in any of those three games, and they got shutout in their four-goal loss on Friday in Dallas.
In two seasons playing its home games at the Temple Sports Complex under MacWilliams, Temple compiled a 14-3-2 record at home.
The Owls had back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016 and finished with nine wins this season. MacWilliams posted seven seasons of 10 wins or more. He also had six seasons when the team posted a winning percentage below 40 percent.
After a two-win season in 2014, MacWilliams’ teams posted a 35-21-5 record.
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