nazariog@tcnj.edu
Seton Hall University ’91
Year of Service: Fifteenth
Hometown: Union, NJ
Education: BA, Communications
The 1995 season marked the debut of Head Coach George Nazario. Hired in the summer of 1995, Nazario is a 1991 graduate of Seton Hall University. In his first season as the head coach of the College’s soccer program, Nazario guided the Lions to the 1995 NCAA Division III Metro Regional Championship. By year’s end, Nazario’s Lions had advanced to the 1995 NCAA Division III Quarterfinals before bowing to the eventual national champions, Williams College.
In just his second season at the helm of the men’s soccer program at TCNJ, Nazario guided his troops where no Lions’ men’s soccer team had gone before. The 1996 Lions captured the NCAA Division III Championship with an exciting 2-1 sudden death victory over Kenyon College. The Lions finished the year with a 17-5-1 mark, while capturing the school’s first men’s soccer crown in NCAA Championship history. The men’s soccer crown ended a nine-year drought for the men’s programs at TCNJ. For his accomplishments, Nazario was selected as the 1996 NSCAA/UMBRO Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year, and was a candidate for the National Division III Coach of the Year.
In his third season with the Lions, Nazario once again guided TCNJ back to the NCAA Division III Championship match, this time settling for the runner-up title as Wheaton College (IL) collected the 1997 crown. Nazario also was selected to serve as a coach for the 1998 Umbro-Select All-Star Game.
In 1998, the Lions finished the season with an 8-8-3 mark and failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Nazario’s tenure. In the spring of 1999, Nazario was tapped to serve as the coach for the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) Region One team in international competition in both France and Spain. While the Lions finished the 1999 season with a 7-2 mark in the NJAC and earned the No. 2 seed in the first-ever NJAC post-season tournament, overall they were 9-7-2 on the season.
The Lions posted a 14-7 mark and earned a spot in the 2000 NJAC tournament, before falling in four overtimes in the semifinals. The Lions went 8-7-2 in 2001, while compiling a 4-5 mark in NJAC play. The team would follow up with a 10-7-3 campaign, including a 5-3-1 effort in the NJAC, while earning a berth in the 2002 NJAC championship game, only to fall to Richard Stockton, 2-0.
In 2003, Nazario directed the Lions to a 5-11-2 mark, while they posted a 3-4-2 effort in the NJAC. Nazario also recorded his 100th career win as the team defeated Manhattanville College, 2-1. On the season, the Lions also produced an NSCAA All-Region player in Joe Schneck, who was also cited as the recipient of TCNJ's Top Senior Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, the Dr. Harold Eickhoff Award. In 2004, the Lions went 7-9-2 overall and recorded a 1-5-2 mark in the NJAC.
The 2005 season saw Nazario's Lions just miss a spot in the NCAA Division III Semifinals after TCNJ fell to defending NCAA Champions, Messiah on the road in the sectional championship game. The Lions would capture the 2005 NJAC Championship after a 7-2 conference campaign that saw Nazario rewarded with a second career selection as the NJAC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year. Also named the NSCAA Metro Regional Coach of the Year in 2005, he was once again a candidate for the NSCAA National Division III Coach of the Year after his Lions went 16-3-1 on the season and produced an All-American on the season.
TCNJ posted a 7-8-1 mark on the 2006 season after a 4-5 effort in the NJAC. The Lions just missed a spot in the conference tournament after a tough loss to Rowan 2-1 in the home regular-season finale. The Lions returned to the NJAC playoffs last fall after going 10-6-3 overall and 5-2-2 in the NJAC to finish in third place in the regular-season standings.
The Lions once again qualified for the NJAC Tournament in 2008 and finished the year with a 9-9-2 mark.
In his tenure with the Lions’ men’s soccer program, Nazario has produced a combined record of 152-97-25 in 14 seasons. In addition, during that same time frame, the Lions have collected a 14-3 record in NCAA tournament play under the guidance of Nazario. The 1997 season also saw a member of the Lions’ men’s soccer program honored as the NSCA Division III National Player of the Year, as Jason Cairns was tapped for the award, while 2005 Lion goalie, Matt Kasperavicius was rewarded for his play in 2005 with a spot on the NSCAA All-America Team.
Prior to taking over TCNJ’s men’s soccer program, Nazario served as an assistant men’s soccer coach for his alma mater, Seton Hall University, for three seasons. As a player at Seton Hall, Nazario helped guide the Pirates to NCAA Division I Tournament appearances in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. The two-time Big East Player of the Year in 1987 and 1990, Nazario was the Pirates’ team captain in 1990 and during his career guided Seton Hall to the Big East Championship three times in 1986, 1987, and 1988. In addition to his duties as an assistant men’s soccer coach at Seton Hall, Nazario also served as a graduate intern within the Pirate Sports Information Office from August 1991 until May 1992.
Selected as a member of the Puerto Rico National Soccer Team in 1992, Nazario concluded services with the program in February 1998. A former member of the United States National Amateur Team from 1987–1990, Nazario served as the athletic director of the Union Lancers Youth Club from 1995 until 1997 and also served as head coach of the Union Lancers Under-16 Youth Team, as well as head coach of the New Jersey Men’s State Select Team Under-23. He has now been a part of two national championship teams. The first time was as a player on the 1987 Union Lancers Under 19 Team that captured the McGuire Cup.
Nazario is a former All-American at Union High School and has obtained a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) “A” License. He currently serving as the Under-16 PDA Larsson Team affiliated with the Players Development Academy (PDA). In the spring of 2001, he was tapped to coach the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) Region One Team in international competition in France, and in 2002 and 2003 led the same team in international competition in both San Jose, Costa Rica, and Barcelona, Spain. In 2003, he was tapped as the coach of the USYSA Region I Team in international competition in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Milan, Italy. He recently completed a four-year stint as a member of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Committee and currently is serving as a member of the Division III Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee.
In addition to his role as TCNJ's head men's soccer coach, Nazario also assists the athletic department with the Lions' Club Golf Outing serving as co-chair of the annual event.
In January of 2007, Nazario was married to Carol Peirce and the couple resides in Hightstown, NJ.
