‘Respect, confidence, trust’: Nuno Gourgel arrives at the hilltop with a clear vision for women’s soccer program
From Portugal to England and later to the United States, Nuno Gourgel’s life always brought him back to the soccer pitch, leading him from development to injury, but ultimately to success.
Gourgel is the new St. Edward’s women’s soccer head coach, arriving after the retirement of long-time coach Nick Cowell. Coming from a background of high-level developmental soccer and a successful career building high-performing collegiate programs, Gourgel has a clear goal: to put St. Edward’s in the map for NCAA Division II programs in the country.
“I want kids to come here and say ‘I don’t have any regrets of going Division II and the experience I had at St. Edward’s,’” Gourgel said. “Not just soccer wise, but all aspects of the university.”
Soccer has always been deeply ingrained in Gourgel’s life. Born in Portugal and raised in England, the sport is a central part of his development and of the culture in which he grew up in.
“We don’t have as many sports as you have here (in the U.S.) or the ability to participate in those sports because the structure is not there,” Gourgel said. “That’s all I’ve known since I could walk.”
However, focusing on a sole sport gives people room to grow and develop early on. At 11, he earned a spot in the Tottenham Academy, where he played until he was 17 — a period he describes as “the best years” of his life. Later moving to Leyton Orient F.C., an English team that plays in the EFL League One, Gourgel realized that the foundation laid during his years at the academy called for more in his career.
“I had the opportunity where someone asked if I wanted to come to the States and at first I said ‘No, not a chance,’” Gourgel recalls. “Six months later he checked in on me, and I said I’d look into it; and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
An ignorant mindset and the lack of visibility for soccer in the U.S. at the time were the factors that stopped him from making the move sooner.
“We just didn’t see the MLS as very high level soccer,” Gourgel said. “What didn’t help was that there were a lot of players in the tailend of their careers who played in low leagues who came to MLS, so that perspective and that perception wasn’t good.”
However, seeing Steve Zakuani — who grew up in the same neighborhood as Gourgel and played for the Arsenal Academy — attend the University of Akron and get drafted as the number one pick by the Seattle Sounders, opened Gourgel’s eyes to the possibilities.
Gourgel started his career like many others who move overseas to pursue a sport: through collegiate athletics and academics — as he attended Ashford University to pursue a degree in business administration and sports management.
The opportunity to do both at a high level is uncommon in other countries, so coming to the U.S. allowed him to follow a broader, and perhaps even more stable, route for his career. However, an unfortunate knee injury raised doubts regarding what would come next.
“I was going through so many things outside soccer that it didn’t really hit me until a year later,” Gourgel said. “I tried to come back (to playing), and I just couldn’t, I physically couldn’t. Because of that, I allowed myself to transition (more into coaching).”
The first moments of coaching were difficult, as Gourgel felt as though he still “had too much player” in him. He felt frustrated when players couldn’t do the same things he used to do, but that showed him the purpose of his work.
“I’m here because people guided me, so as a coach I try to help kids,” Gourgel said. “I have used soccer to get where I am, so a lot of these kids may use soccer to get where they are; that might be their escape.”
To Gourgel, soccer has been and always will be “a people’s game,” and he has strived to emphasize the importance of connection, guidance and good communication, elements he sees as necessary for success.
That mindset is what allowed him to build not one, but two programs from the ground up during his tenure at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. From 2016 to 2019, Gourgel served as the head coach for both men’s and women’s programs, culminating in a combined 82-20-10 record.
“My foundation that I learned at junior college and building those programs is the reason I believe I’ve been successful on every stop,” Gourgel said.
The need to be creative with the resources available, to have a vision of what you want your program to look like, the commitment to establish a culture and build the standard of excellence are the main pillars that sustained the years he spent in Ephraim; and are now what motivate his goals at St. Edward’s.
The Portuguese coach built extremely successful programs, but looking back, he wishes he would’ve enjoyed the small moments a little more.
“After our first year, we didn’t celebrate regular season championships because that’s just what we did, but I look back at it now, and I think ‘That’s wrong,’” Gourgel said. “I should’ve made a bigger emphasis on it rather than just think ‘Ok, onto the next.’ Our standards were so high that we didn’t celebrate, but now I look back at it and we should have.”
After his successful run at Snow College, Gourgel became assistant coach and international and domestic recruitment coordinator at Robert Morris University. His experience as an international student himself and in recruiting international-player heavy rosters has taught him that compatibility matters more than where someone comes from.
“I was an international kid, so if anyone will have tools for them, I’ll be one of those people because I’ve been through what international students go through — from day one, to graduation, to academics, everything,” Gourgel said.
Paired with an understanding of the value of bringing cultures together and of the impact that American students and international students have on each other, Gourgel is looking forward to continuing recruiting a wide variety of student athletes to St. Edward’s.
He also seeks to implement the high standards that he set at Utah Valley University and the University of Utah more recently, always emphasizing that talent and culture must match in order for a program to work. He understands that college soccer can be frustrating, but everyone must buy into the common goal, the method and the culture that the program is built around.
At St. Edward’s, Gourgel joins forces with assistant coach Kat Nichols — who coached for a season under Cowell. Gourgel’s vision, combined with Nichols’ familiarity with the current roster and the program’s identity allow for the high standards to be implemented and for Cowell’s legacy of success to live on.
“With Nuno coming in, there’s a sense of intensity in the way that we are trying to reset the program and get it moving in a slightly different direction,” Nichols said. “It’s a different voice, more intensity coming out of it as far as how hard we work during training.”
Nichols and Gourgel are aligned in what they believe the pillars should be: intensity, accountability, culture and trust. With that, Nichols believes that the program can be a “top dog” in the Lone Star Conference once again.
In order to do so, Gourgel emphasizes the following main values that will guide that intensity and high standards: “Respect everything we do. Choose your hard. Growth. Joy. Trust.” But above all else, Gourgel hopes that the players learn and grow from the opportunities that he is willing to provide to them for as long as he is on the hilltop.
