Nguyen steps down after 3 years, 2 titles at Greenfield
program while former Greenfield head coach Randol Mendoza will return to lead the Lady Knights.
By Paul Durham
While coaching soccer has always been more of an avocation for Eric Nguyen, a more important use of his “free” time awaits the soon-to-be father of two who announced this week he was stepping down as girls and boys soccer coach at Greenfield School, which he directed to North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A titles in 2019 and 2020.
Nguyen revealed that he and his wife, Brooke, are expecting their second daughter and he has taken a new job in Durham after working the past five years as a chemist with Merck in Wilson. Greenfield athletic director Rob Salter said that former coach Randol Mendoza, whom Nguyen succeeded, will return as the Lady Knights head coach while varsity assistant and junior varsity head coach Justin Wilkerson will take over the Knights next fall.
“I can’t thank Eric enough for what he’s done for our program and maintaining the level of excellence,” Salter said. “And we’re lucky. I’ve got two great soccer guys at school — Randol, we’re lucky to have him still there, and Justin — two great soccer minds, so we’re transitioning in a good state, we’re very confident in who we have leading both of our programs.”
Nguyen, a 2009 Hunt High graduate and former Warriors standout, has been coaching soccer in
Wilson since he moved back home upon graduation from Chowan University in 2013. He and his wife coached a Wilson Youth Soccer Association girls team. Nguyen also coached the varsity boys team at Hunt for three years before taking the Greenfield jobs. The Nguyens moved to Raleigh more than a year ago.
While Nguyen previously expressed interest in climbing the coaching ranks and possibly reaching the collegiate level someday, he’s got a far more tangible goal now. He and Brooke are already busy with daughter, Mia, who was a few days old when Nguyen guided the Knights to the first of two straight state titles in October 2019. So soccer is not in his immediate plans.
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“Definitely taking a break for the spring and probably next fall,” he said. “With two kids. I’ve got to kind of figure out what my time is going to be like and obviously priorities are a lot different now. But I hope to get back into coaching eventually, probably more on the club side. I think, time-wise, it’d be a little bit easier to manage but, yeah, I’m definitely going to miss being a part of the high school, under the lights.”
Nguyen certainly proved himself as a coach “under the lights.” His Hunt teams went 54-16-2 and reached the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs each of his three seasons leading his alma mater. Nguyen directed the Knights to a 39-14-4 mark in three seasons, including their 15th and 16th state championships. All three of his boys teams reached the NCISAA 1-A championship game. His first Greenfield girls team in the spring of 2019 went 12-9 and the Lady Knights were 4-0 last year before the COVID-19 pandemic terminated the season.
“None of that is possible without players,” Nguyen said. “I’ve always been blessed with great players. Just like with any coaching opportunity, the best part about it is just the relationships you create with those guys or girls and just watching them succeed on the field and and also go off to college and maybe be just as successful as well. Mentoring those kids every day, and just seeing them and their joy when they do something great. I’ll still be around and to be involved and watch them but it’s going to be a little bit harder now.”
Mendoza, a former Barton College standout, coached the boys program at Greenfield for four years and left early in his fourth season with the Lady Knights to take a corporate job. Mendoza — who followed in the footsteps of legendary Greenfield head coach Ben Forbes, for whom the school’s soccer field is named — led the Knights to the 2016 state 1-A crown. Mendoza has since returned to Greenfield as the school’s director of development and communications and the finance director. He also founded Soccer Box, a soccer training center in Wilson.
With practice starting in less than a month for the girls season, Salter said that Wilkinson will handle the head coaching duties while Mendoza will be in more of an auxiliary role this spring as he tends to his office duties. But starting with the 2021-22 school year, Wilkinson will coach the boys in the fall, with Mendoza helping, and vice versa for the girls season in the spring.
program while former Greenfield head coach Randol Mendoza will return to lead the Lady Knights.
By Paul Durham
While coaching soccer has always been more of an avocation for Eric Nguyen, a more important use of his “free” time awaits the soon-to-be father of two who announced this week he was stepping down as girls and boys soccer coach at Greenfield School, which he directed to North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A titles in 2019 and 2020.
Nguyen revealed that he and his wife, Brooke, are expecting their second daughter and he has taken a new job in Durham after working the past five years as a chemist with Merck in Wilson. Greenfield athletic director Rob Salter said that former coach Randol Mendoza, whom Nguyen succeeded, will return as the Lady Knights head coach while varsity assistant and junior varsity head coach Justin Wilkerson will take over the Knights next fall.
“I can’t thank Eric enough for what he’s done for our program and maintaining the level of excellence,” Salter said. “And we’re lucky. I’ve got two great soccer guys at school — Randol, we’re lucky to have him still there, and Justin — two great soccer minds, so we’re transitioning in a good state, we’re very confident in who we have leading both of our programs.”
Nguyen, a 2009 Hunt High graduate and former Warriors standout, has been coaching soccer in
Wilson since he moved back home upon graduation from Chowan University in 2013. He and his wife coached a Wilson Youth Soccer Association girls team. Nguyen also coached the varsity boys team at Hunt for three years before taking the Greenfield jobs. The Nguyens moved to Raleigh more than a year ago.
While Nguyen previously expressed interest in climbing the coaching ranks and possibly reaching the collegiate level someday, he’s got a far more tangible goal now. He and Brooke are already busy with daughter, Mia, who was a few days old when Nguyen guided the Knights to the first of two straight state titles in October 2019. So soccer is not in his immediate plans.
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“Definitely taking a break for the spring and probably next fall,” he said. “With two kids. I’ve got to kind of figure out what my time is going to be like and obviously priorities are a lot different now. But I hope to get back into coaching eventually, probably more on the club side. I think, time-wise, it’d be a little bit easier to manage but, yeah, I’m definitely going to miss being a part of the high school, under the lights.”
Nguyen certainly proved himself as a coach “under the lights.” His Hunt teams went 54-16-2 and reached the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs each of his three seasons leading his alma mater. Nguyen directed the Knights to a 39-14-4 mark in three seasons, including their 15th and 16th state championships. All three of his boys teams reached the NCISAA 1-A championship game. His first Greenfield girls team in the spring of 2019 went 12-9 and the Lady Knights were 4-0 last year before the COVID-19 pandemic terminated the season.
“None of that is possible without players,” Nguyen said. “I’ve always been blessed with great players. Just like with any coaching opportunity, the best part about it is just the relationships you create with those guys or girls and just watching them succeed on the field and and also go off to college and maybe be just as successful as well. Mentoring those kids every day, and just seeing them and their joy when they do something great. I’ll still be around and to be involved and watch them but it’s going to be a little bit harder now.”
Mendoza, a former Barton College standout, coached the boys program at Greenfield for four years and left early in his fourth season with the Lady Knights to take a corporate job. Mendoza — who followed in the footsteps of legendary Greenfield head coach Ben Forbes, for whom the school’s soccer field is named — led the Knights to the 2016 state 1-A crown. Mendoza has since returned to Greenfield as the school’s director of development and communications and the finance director. He also founded Soccer Box, a soccer training center in Wilson.
With practice starting in less than a month for the girls season, Salter said that Wilkinson will handle the head coaching duties while Mendoza will be in more of an auxiliary role this spring as he tends to his office duties. But starting with the 2021-22 school year, Wilkinson will coach the boys in the fall, with Mendoza helping, and vice versa for the girls season in the spring.
