Known as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation, Gregory Wilson has been with the Gauchos since the spring of 2006. In Wilson's 19 years on the bench, UC Santa Barbara has reached the postseason 11 times – including winning the 2006 National Championship, reaching the 2019 NCAA Elite Eight, 7 NCAA Sweet Sixteen Appearances – and won a Big West regular season or tournament title six times. The Downingtown, Pennsylvania native boasts 24 years of Division I experience and over 32 years across college, club and high school levels.
With Santa Barbara, Wilson is actively involved in all aspects of the coaching process, including training, scouting, recruiting, community outreach and more. He has also bolstered the program’s community and alumni relations, organizing tournaments, camps, and special events such as AYSO Skills Media Day.
A renowned recruiter, he has been the program's recruiting coordinator since 2006, his efforts to bring top talent to Santa Barbara frequently being recognized nationally, including in 2006 (College Soccer News No. 22 recruiting class), 2007 (No. 13), 2008 (No. 6), 2009 (No. 4), 2010 (No. 7), 2011 (No. 23), 2012 (No. 17), and 2013 (Top Drawer Soccer No. 3 recruiting class).
Over his career, Wilson has helped recruited a pair of players who have received caps for the US Men’s National Team, 9 Mac Herman Trophy College Player of the Year Nominees, 12 National All-Americans, 39 All-Far West Regional Honorees, 31 All Big West Conference Players of the Year, 53 All Big West First-Team Selections and 153 All Big West Conference Player Selections.
Also adept at player development, he has mentored over 50 players who have moved onto the professional ranks, bolstering the most MLS draft picks in the Big West Conference over the past two decades including 8 MLS First Round Draft picks, headlined by 2024 No. 1 overall pick Manu Duah, as well as the likes of Chris Pontius, Luis Silva, Sam Garza and 3 players who have gone on to win an MLS Cup.
Under Wilson’s guidance, the Gauchos have also thrived in the classroom. UC Santa Barbara received numerous NSCAA Team Academic Awards for maintaining a team GPA over 3.0, while Wilson has coached over 20 Big West All-Academic honorees, 3 Academic All-Americans and 2 Golden Eagle Ring Winner for boosting the highest GPA in the entire athletic department.
Wilson also oversees all aspects of community outreach and assisted with and management of ‘Gaucho Gives’ and other marketing programs that has seen the programs average attendance rise from 1,200 to as high as over 5,000 per game. In his tenure, UC Santa Barbara was No. 1in the nation in men’s soccer attendance for 9 consecutive seasons. In addition, during this time frame, the program achieved the top five regular season, on-campus draws in NCAA history including 15,896 vs UCLA, 14,919 vs Cal Poly & 13,772 vs San Diego.
Serving the community for over 19-years as an influential leader, Wilson served the Santa Barbara Soccer Club in the roles of Coach (2006 to 2013), Academy Head Coach, Zone 2 Boy’s Director, MLS Academy Director, Director of Coaching and Director of Soccer (2014-2023). During Wilson’s two decades of service, he completely revamped and developed curriculum for the club's competitive and recreational based programs and created a robust programming for player identification and scouting networks. He oversaw the technical direction of the club and expansion from a mere 30 recreation-based players to over 1,500 participants, 25 competitive teams to 56 including the mentorship of approximately 20 coaches to over 40 coaches to date. Wilson established the foundation that helped transcended the Santa Barbara Soccer Club MLS Academy into full-time status with US Soccer, most recently boosting one MLS Playoff team while assisting in developing over twenty players that advanced careers into top Division I schools.
Prior to arriving in Santa Barbara, Wilson made coaching stops at Philadelphia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Serving as a Division I head coach at Philadelphia University from 2003-2005, Wilson snapped a 16-year postseason drought when he led the Rams into the Atlantic Soccer Conference Tournament in 2005. He also established a commitment to academic excellence at Philadelphia as his players ranked in the top 80% in the country in Academic Progress Rate, Eligibility/Graduation and Retention according to the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance.
In his two years at the University of Pennsylvania, his duties included daily team training for the reserve team, assisting with the training and conditioning of field players, and scouting and recruiting. In his first year working at Penn, the Quakers won the Ivy League title and he helped the program advance to its first NCAA Tournament berth in 25 years.
From 1999-2002 Wilson served as the director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association. He also coached in the ODP Program and guided the squad to the 2006 USYSA Region I Championship and National Final. Before that, Wilson spent eight successful seasons as the head coach for the FC Delco Soccer Club, where he won the 1996, 1998, and 2000 USYSA Pennsylvania State Cups as well as the 1998 Region I Championship.
Wilson’s first Head Coach stint was at Downingtown High School from 1997-2001, where he led the team to back-to-back 1998 & 1999 PIAA- AAA State Championship , winning titles for the first time since his All-American season in 1989. Over his time at the helm at Downingtown, Wilson developed and mentored a player who capped for the US Men’s National, 2 MLS professional, 3 National All-Americans, 10 All-State Selections and over fifteen players that advanced careers into top Division I schools.
As a player, Wilson spent three years playing professionally for the Philadelphia Freedom of the USISL. He was a standout at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science from 1990-93, where he was an All-League First Team selection. He was an NSCAA National All-American his senior year at Downingtown High School, and won state championships at the USYSA and PIAA levels.
Wilson's certifications include United States Soccer Federation "A" Senior and United States Soccer Federation “A” Youth National Licenses, NSCAA "Master Coach Diploma', 'Director of Coaching Diploma' and "Premier Diploma" as well as a USYSA National Youth License. In addition, he was previously a regional coaching instructor for the NSCAA.
Wilson earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science and received an MBA while on staff at Philadelphia University.
He and his wife Andra live in Santa Barbara with their son, Baylor
