Josh Faga - Associate Head Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Josh Faga

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
Phone:
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Josh Faga, a former standout player at Marist who has also competed at the professional level, joined the Marshall men's soccer coaching staff in August of 2019 after spending 5 years (2014-2019) as the top assistant coach at Duquesne University. Faga has helped the Herd program develop even further to not just joining the national conversation, but becoming National Champions. He finished his third season at Marshall in 2021.

In Faga’s three seasons in Huntington, the men’s soccer staff was named the United Soccer Coaches Southeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2019 and again in 2020-21, as well as being honored as the National Coaching Staff of the Year in 2020-21. The Herd has been to the NCAA Tournament all three of his seasons. Marshall's record with Faga on staff is an amazing 40-9-9, a .767 winning percentage.

In 2021, Marshall won double-digit matches for the third-straight year, program’s longest streak since 1995-98, with 11 more wins. The Herd was ranked in the top 25 throughout the season and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Marshall’s defense set two more team records with seven-straight clean sheets and a span of 760 minutes and 37 seconds without conceding a goal. From 2019 through 2021, the Herd’s defense has earned 28 shutouts, the most in a three-year span in team history.

Faga helped take the Herd to back-to-back historic seasons. Marshall finished 2019 with an all-time best 16 wins that included eight shutouts. The Herd won the Conference USA Regular Season Title, Conference USA Tournament Title, hosted a second round match in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the third round. His work with the team helped lead to a goal differential of 27 (47 goals scored and 20 allowed) the third-best figure in team history.

In 2020-21, the Herd improved even more following up the 2019 C-USA Championship winning season with another conference title, a second trip to the NCAA Tournament and ultimately hoisting the 2020 College Cup National Championship Trophy. Marshall’s ball-control and stingy defense led the way to an NCAA-leading 11 shutouts including the final three matches of the NCAA Tournament. In the 2020-21 season, the Herd outscored its opponents 30-8, outshot the competition 272-118 and 120-34 on goal. The Green & White ended the year with a 13-2-3 overall record and 6-0-1 in conference action.

During his time at Marshall 25 players have been named all-conference, six named to the C-USA All-Tournament team, three named all-academic, 21 honored as conference offensive or defensive player of the week, 13 named All-Region, five honored on College Soccer News Team of the Week, six Scholar All-Region selections, four United Soccer Coaches All-Americans, two United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Americans, and one each CoSIDA Academic All-American and College Soccer News All-American.

Prior to joining the Herd, Faga made his presence felt at Duquesne University. He helped the Dukes put together an attack that led the Atlantic 10 Conference in both scoring offense and points per game in 2015 & 2016. Faga helped DU to A-10 Championship appearances in 2015 & 2016.

Faga is tasked with organizing the team periodization, opponent analysis, video analysis, data analysis, tactical developments, and various roles in the execution of training. In addition to his tactical contributions, Faga is a Specialist in Strength and Conditioning (SSC) through the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) as well as a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In 2022, Faga finished a Masters in Sports Science (MSc) with an emphasis in Strength and Conditioning from Middlesex University. His Master’s Thesis, “Does size matter? Effects of small vs. large pitch size in small-sided game training on speed and endurance in collegiate soccer,” was published in the International Journal of Sports Science. Additionally, Faga published a book in 2018 titled "The Real Giants of Soccer Coaching: Insights and Wisdom from the Game's Greatest Coaches" that was a collection of curated thoughts from over 30 of the best soccer coaches in the world gathered through exclusive interviews conducted between 2013-2018.

In addition to his qualifications as a strength and conditioning coach, Faga has his “B” License through the US Soccer Federation (USSF) and also completed his “B” License through the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) in 2017. Faga also has a Masters in High Performance Football earned from MBP in Barcelona, Spain.

Faga graduated in 2012 with a undergraduate degree in business economics from Marist College and completed his MBA in 2014. He also completed a Masters in High Performance Football in 2017 at MBP, a Coaching College in Barcelona, Spain. He recently completed a Masters in Science in Strength and Conditioning from Middlesex University in London in 2022.

As a player, Faga was a three time All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) player at Marist College. Faga began his collegiate career at St. John's where he played in 19 games, with 11 starts, as a redshirt freshman for the Red Storm's 2009 Big East championship team and NCAA tournament qualifier. A Big East All-Academic honoree, he was a redshirt when SJU made its run to the 2008 College Cup semifinal. Following his collegiate playing career, Faga signed his first professional contract with Rochester New York FC (then known as the Rochester Rhinos) in the USL Championship. This is the same club that former Marshall standout Pedro Dolabella, coached by Faga during his career at Marshall, also signed his first professional contract for. Prior to leaving professional soccer for a career in coaching, Faga played for the Rochester Lancers in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL).

Faga is also a USSF B Licensed coach and earned his CONMEBOL B License in 2018.

Faga was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Rochester, New York. He lives in Huntington, West Virginia with his wife, Alexandra, and daughter, Giuliana.