Nov. 21, 2025 SHARE: The phrase “more than an athlete” has grown beyond sports and become a broader cultural message. Even if you’re not into sports, it reminds us all that we are more than what we do— a timely message in a world where our worth often feels tied to performance. While sports often unify American culture, they can also highlight our tendency to place too much value on achievements and titles. So, it seems fitting that HCU’s values would attract talent with a deep-seated desire to reimagine what an elite soccer program would look like – where players develop a profound sense of identity that transcends what is quantified by stats and scoreboards. Nick Whiting has officially entered the arena. Our new women’s soccer head coach has set his sights on building a culture where the drive to win helps players arrive at the revelation of how God is uniquely calling them to serve others, invest in their families and lead communities. His lofty ambition to cultivate winners who are equipped to navigate life once the cleats come off also necessitates recruiting a distinctive kind of player. “Character is a huge part of our new program. We want our players to be successful in everything they do – and do it the right way. They have done community service on their own. We have the most genuine and caring group a coach could ask for. We are going to continue to bring in players that fit that mold.” NICK WHITING, Women’s Soccer Head Coach Marked by his well-traveled background as a “military kid” – he approaches coaching through the lens of diverse cultural experiences which offer him the ability to engage players from all walks of life while making the team feel like a tight-knit family. “My parents were in the Air Force. We moved to Europe, so I grew up in Germany and England. I fell in love with the game there. When I graduated college, my eyes opened to how much impact a coach can make on a student-athlete’s life.” In the rearview, it’s easy to catch a glimpse of God’s hand weaving together the intricate details of Whiting’s life – drawing all the threads together to bring him to HCU. “I had been to campus multiple times when I was the Associate Head Coach at McNeese. I spent the last two years after that at Western, and we put together the best season in school history. Multiple schools expressed interest in me for their openings, but I reached out to HCU because it really fit everything I was looking for. I wanted to be somewhere that I believed in, not just the athletic department, but the mission of the school as well.” As he begins to realize his aspirations as a head coach, his commitment to honoring Christ has imparted God’s fingerprints on every decision he is making to rebuild his soccer team. “My faith is very important to me. I believe it’s the backbone to a successful program. We are going to ask a lot of our players. We need to know them as more than just soccer players, and we need them to know how much we value them as people. I think we can become one of the premier soccer programs in the Southland Conference. Student-athletes want to come here. They want to be part of the school’s mission. The sky is the limit, and we believe we’re on our way to becoming a national brand.” With Coach Whiting at the helm of HCU cultivating a new path forward for athletics – we are eager to cheer him on as he coaches our team to make all the right plays, on and off the field.
