CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Doug and Lisa Jones Head Women’s Soccer Coach Nate Norman has been named the 2026 ACC Coach of the year, announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.
Norman rallied Notre Dame to the program’s first outright ACC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Soccer Championship.
Despite opening the season with five draws through their first six matches, the Fighting Irish responded with nine victories in their last 11 contests, including a six-match winning streak entering the postseason. Over the last two seasons, Notre Dame is 16-2-2 in ACC matches, the best record of any league team in that span.
This is his second ACC Coach of the Year honor as Norman previously took home the award in 2022. Norman is now 107-45-24 at Notre Dame in his nine seasons at the helm of the program.
This also marks Norman’s fifth straight year mentoring a Fighting Irish to a ‘of the Year’ award. The Irish are now the only ACC school to win such an award for five consecutive seasons: Korbin Albert (2022 ACC Midfielder of the Year), Eva Gaetino (2022, 2023 ACC Defender of the Year), Izzy Engle (2024 ACC Freshman of the Year, 2025 ACC Offensive Player of the Year) and now, Lily Joseph takes home the ACC Midfielder of the Year this season.