Erin Chastain
Head Women's Soccer Coach, University of Minnesota
National Advisory Board
Chastain comes to Minnesota with more than 20 years of coaching experience, which includes the last 14 as head coach at DePaul. Prior to her time with the Blue Demons, she previously was an assistant coach at Santa Clara and Northwestern.
Chastain, who was a four-year starter and three-year captain for the Gophers in the 1990s, is the fifth head coach in program history. The Plymouth, Minn., native earned her bachelor’s degree from the Carlson School of Management in International Business in 1997.
Chastain directed DePaul to a 13-6-2 record in 2013, the best winning percentage in program history. It was the second-most wins behind the 2003 team that went 14-7-2. DePaul earned a berth to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003, falling 1-0 at Indiana in the first round. Chastain was named NSCAA Northeast Region Coach of the Year.
Prior to arriving in Chicago, Chastain spent five seasons at national soccer power Santa Clara as an assistant coach. During her tenure with the Broncos, the program reached the championship game of the 2002 NCAA Championship, the semifinals in 2004 and the quarterfinals in 2005. She also helped the program to West Coast Conference titles in four of her five seasons. As the lead recruiter, she landed three classes from 2002-06 ranked in the nation’s top four by Soccer America. The 2002 recruiting class was the top-ranked in the United States followed by a No. 4 slot in 2004. Her final recruiting class for Santa Clara, which began play in 2007, was ranked third among all NCAA Division I programs.
Chastain also spent time during her first three seasons at Santa Clara working with several youth teams in the Bay Area, including the DeAnza Strykers and the North Valley Tornadoes. She also coordinated the Santa Clara Soccer Camps from 2002-05. The five-week camp served over 1,000 campers each summer.
She returns to the Chicagoland where she started her collegiate coaching career. Prior to heading west, Chastain spent three seasons as Northwestern’s top assistant coach. During her tenure with the Wildcats, she also served as the head coach of the Glenview (Ill.) U-15 Girl’s Soccer Club.
Upon completion of her collegiate playing career, Chastain spent time as the head coach of the Wayzata and Edina (Minn.) U-15 Girls’ Premier soccer teams and worked as an assistant account executive for the advertising firm Fallon McElligott in Minneapolis.
As a student-athlete, Chastain (then Hussey) was a four-year starter at Minnesota. The three-year captain appeared in each of the Gophers’ 82 matches during her career and concluded her career ranked fourth on the school’s all-time points list, fifth in goals scored and tied for third in assists. She earned second team All-Big Ten honors in 1995 and was a first team honoree in 1996. Chastain also picked up third team All-Great Lakes Region honors in 1996 by the NSCAA. Minnesota claimed the 1995 Big Ten Championship and qualified for the NCAA Championship in 1995 and 1996.
Off the field, she was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection from 1994-96, and earned District Academic All-America honors in 1996. A native of Plymouth, Minn., Chastain graduated from Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in International Business/Spanish in June 1997. Having spent six months studying abroad at the University of Seville, Spain, Chastain is fluent in Spanish.
Chastain and her husband, Chad, live on Chicago’s North Side with their daughters Harper and Brooklyn. Chad’s sister, Brandi, is one of USA Soccer’s all-time greats as she led the American side to the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.