The Top 25 Active Coaches in D3 Women’s Sports
The D3 level has some big-time coaches.
Some of the best coaches in college athletics coach at Division III schools.
We hear a lot about the coaches at Power 4 programs (and we’ve covered them) but D3 has something pretty special, too:
Coaches who have built nationally dominant programs…without the massive budgets, staffs and resources of the Division I level.
To help recruits in their college search, we’ve built our list of the Top 50 Active D3 Head Coaches, with 25 men’s and 25 women’s coaches.
We are rolling out the Women’s Sports Top 25 to start and we’ll share the Men’s Sports Top 25. As always, our newsletter subscribers get it first.
Have a suggestion for someone we missed? Let us know at founder@d3-direct.com
The best coaches from D3 Women’s Sports in 2026.
Top 25 D3 Women’s Sports Coaches
This list ranks 25 current head coaches across 11 D3 women’s sports. No sport has more than three spots, so the list could be more representative of the entirety of Division III.
For recruits, this isn’t about just looking at trophy cases. Our goal is to showcase the coaches who have built sustained, healthy D3 programs across their careers.
These aren’t just “good D3 coaches.”
They’re some of the most accomplished coaches in all of college athletics.
How We Ranked Them
We weighed six factors:
National championships
NCAA postseason results
Career winning percentage
Conference dominance
Longevity
National coaching honors
As always, we asked our followers on social media to weigh in and got some great suggestions. Check out the original post here.
Getting our followers involved to ensure our rankings are accurate.
Note: Only current head coaches qualify. Records are as of October 2026 and drawn from NCAA, conference and school athletics sources.
The Top 25 Active D3 Women’s Sports Coaches
1. Kate Livesay, Middlebury Women’s Lacrosse
Middlebury won its fifth straight NCAA title in 2026, the first five-peat in D3 women’s lacrosse history. And beyond that string of success, Livesay has eight total national titles as a head coach: seven at Middlebury and one at Trinity (Conn.) (Source)
Our Take: Coach Livesay has an incredible 195-12 (.942 winning percentage) record at Middlebury and while some coaches below her on the list might have more overall wins - we were sold by her team’s recent run of dominance. Another element of her resume that set her apart was not just doing well at two separate schools, but winning national titles at two.
Image by Elizabeth Robertson (Source)
2. Scott Frey, Messiah Women’s Soccer
Coach Frey has won six national titles, 22 conference championships, reached 15 Final Fours, and coached 46 All-Americans in his career. His 518-36-37 record gives him a .908 winning percentage (.973 in conference 🤯) the highest in NCAA soccer across all divisions. (Source)
Our Take: Beyond the winning, one thing we want to point out is that Frey is a Messiah graduate (class of 1984) and actually got his start coaching the Men’s team as an assistant coach. Recruits, always note when someone returns to their alma mater to coach. That alone speaks volumes about their commitment to the institution.
Image via Messiah University Athletics (Source)
3. Jon Howell, Emory Swimming & Diving
Howell’s Emory women won 12 national titles, including 10 straight from 2010 to 2019. The team finished national runner-up in 2026 and has placed sixth or better at nationals 25 seasons in a row. (Source)
Image via Emory University (Source)
4. Katharine DeLorenzo, Middlebury Field Hockey
DeLorenzo has eight national titles, including seven straight from 2017 to 2024 (no 2020 season). She passed 500 career wins in 2025, one of only 15 field hockey coaches in any NCAA division to do so. (Source)
Our Take: Any time you win one national title as a coach, it is something to celebrate - but seven straight is just pure dominance.
5. Bobby Van Allen, Johns Hopkins Cross Country
Van Allen’s women have won eight national titles since 2012, the most in D3 women’s cross country history. No coach has been named national coach of the year in the sport more often. (Source)
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6. Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State Women’s Hockey
Seven national championships, 517 wins and a .865 winning percentage. Houle has also won seven national Coach of the Year awards.
7. G.P. Gromacki, Amherst Women’s Basketball
Gromacki has three national titles (2011, 2017, 2018), the last two in undefeated seasons. He reached 600 wins in 686 games, faster than any coach in NCAA basketball history.
8. Meg Barber, NYU Women’s Basketball
Barber led NYU to back-to-back national titles and a 91-game winning streak, the longest in D3 women’s basketball history. The streak ended in the 2026 Final Four against the University of Scranton.
Want more D3 Women’s Hoops coverage? Check out the Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops - a newsletter by Riley Zayas.
9. Julie Jenkins, Trinity (TX) Volleyball
Jenkins is 1,132-448 and entering her 42nd season at Trinity. She has taken the Tigers to 30 NCAA tournaments, including the 2025 national semifinals.
From the original post, one of our followers got a Top 10 coach correct.
10. Joe Cranston, UW-River Falls Women’s Hockey
Cranston has won three straight national titles (2024, 2025, 2026). He built the program from scratch in 1999 and has 546 career wins, third most in D3 women’s hockey history. He was named national coach of the year in 2024 and 2026.
11. Brian Morehouse, Hope Women’s Basketball
700+ wins and a .877 winning percentage, plus two national championships and 18 conference titles.
12. Kim Wilson, Rowan Softball
1,000+ career wins, NFCA Hall of Famer, 10 conference championships and six Women’s College World Series appearances.
13. Jim Nestor, Salisbury Women’s Lacrosse
Four national championships, nine NCAA championship-game appearances, 20 NCAA tournament appearances and 467+ wins. His most recent title came in 2021.
14. Tina Mattera, Tufts Field Hockey
Mattera won national titles in 2012 and 2025 and has reached six NCAA finals. She is 305-90 at Tufts and joins the NFHCA Hall of Fame in 2026.
15. Keith Parr, Christopher Newport Softball
Parr’s 2022 team went 47-1 and won CNU’s first national title. He entered 2026 with a 736-215-1 career record.
16. Carol Cantele, Gettysburg Women’s Lacrosse
Cantele has multiple national championships, including back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018. She is one of the foundational figures in D3 women’s lacrosse.
17. Dan Weiler, Johns Hopkins Women’s Soccer
Weiler led Hopkins to a 23-0-2 record and the 2022 national title. He is the only active women’s soccer coach with 100+ wins at two different D3 schools.
18. Lily Siddall, Tufts Rowing
Siddall’s Tufts crews have won three straight NCAA D3 rowing titles (2024, 2025, 2026).
19. David Schwarz, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Women’s Tennis
Five D3 national championships as a head coach across men’s and women’s tennis, and a career winning percentage above .900 at CMS.
20. Amy Howley Reifert, UChicago Women’s Soccer
More than three decades at Chicago, 20+ NCAA appearances and multiple Final Four runs. One of D3 soccer’s great program-builders.
Honorable mention to WashU’s Jim Conlon for Women’s Soccer who has led the Bears to back-to-back National Titles.
21. Jon Carlson, Gustavus Adolphus Women’s Tennis
More than 700 wins and one of the winningest coaches in D3 women’s tennis history.
22. Jon Ellmann, UW-Oshkosh Volleyball
Ellmann’s 2025 team went 34-3 and won the program’s first national title without dropping a set in the tournament. He was the 2023 AVCA D3 Coach of the Year.
Honorable Mention to Juniata Volleyball’s Heather Pavlik who has a 409-74 overall record and three national titles.
23. Jose Ortega, Redlands Softball
Ortega led Redlands to its first national title in 2026, with a 48-6 record and a program-record 30-game winning streak.
Watch this Sports Center Top 10 moment from their national title run.
24. Paul Dill, MIT Volleyball
Dill has 1,000+ wins as a college head coach, nearly all of them at MIT with its men’s and women’s teams. He entered 2025 with a 763-217 record with the women and has never had a season with fewer than 20 wins.
25. Trevor Miele, NYU Swimming & Diving
Miele led the NYU women to their first national title in 2026 and was named CSCAA Women’s Coach of the Year for the second time.
What This Means for D3 Recruits
The common thread on this list is longevity. Most of these coaches have led the same program for 15 to 40 years, which means recruits can count on a stable culture for all four years.
When you talk with any D3 coach, ask questions that reveal the same things these programs do well:
How long have you been here, and how long do you plan to stay?
What does your roster look like by class year, and how many players stay all four years?
How do your athletes balance practice with academics and internships?
What do your recent graduates go on to do?
In Summary
Every single one of the coaches on this list (and many more around the country) are developing athletes AND they’re developing people.
They’re also building programs that routinely compete for national championships.
There are no guarantees in college athletics.
But if you’re a student-athlete considering D3, it’s worth knowing that you’re not choosing between “big-time college sports” and D3.
D3 has big-time coaches, too.
The difference is that the experience can look very different.
More balance and more academic flexibility.
And, at many schools, the opportunity to be coached by someone who has spent decades building a program.
That’s a pretty good combination in our opinion.
— D3Direct
Frequently Asked Questions
Do D3 schools offer athletic scholarships?
No. NCAA Division III schools cannot give athletic scholarships. Athletes receive merit-based and need-based financial aid, which can still cover a large share of the cost. Here’s how D3 offers work.
Can a D3 coach help with admissions?
Yes. D3 coaches recruit actively and can often support an applicant in the admissions process, though how much varies by school. Ask each coach directly how their support works and if you can do a pre-read first with the admissions department.