Marcia McDermott Position: Associate Head Coach

Following an array of successes as a player and head coach, Marcia McDermott begins her second year with Illinois and first as an assoicate head coach. She was promoted to the position on June 26, 2007. McDermott won three NCAA championships as a player and coached the Carolina Courage to a WUSA title in 2002.

McDermott utilized her experience immediately with the Illini in 2006, helping turn the Illini into an extremely potent offensive team, as they scored three or more goals in eight matches. She also helped develop a balanced Illinois attack, with four players scoring five or more goals.

When she joined the Illinois staff, she reunited the former coaching staff at the University of Arkansas, where she served as head coach with Janet Rayfield as her assistant and Dale Armstrong as her student/graduate assistant coach in 1990-91.

As a student-athlete, McDermott led the University of North Carolina to three national titles in 1983, '84 and '86, serving as co-captain in 1986 and earning All-America honors. She then went on to play on the U.S. Women's National team in 1986 and '88 before becoming an assistant coach at North Carolina-Greensboro.

From there, McDermott spent two years as head coach at Maryland, then three as the head coach of Arkansas while working with Rayfield and Armstrong. In 1994, McDermott moved to Northwestern, where she was most successful as a collegiate coach, leading the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in 1998 and earning Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 1996 and '98.

Following a seven-year stint with Northwestern, McDermott became the head coach of the Carolina Courage, where she led the squad to a 12-4 record and a regular-season championship in 2002 before taking the Founder's Cup as the winner of the postseason title.

McDermott also is very active in the NSCAA, having served on the Women's Committee and Board of Directors prior to her current position on the Executive Committee. She also has worked as a scout for the U.S. Women's National team and is on the Chicago SCORES Board of Directors.

"Marcia knows talent and more importantly, she has an incredible ability to get players to utilize and maximize their talent," Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield said of McDermott. "The players in this program are lucky to have her as part of their development pathway."