Morgan Cathey

Mogan Cathey continues a long line of highly successful men's soccer coaches at Whitworth University that began with Einar Thorarinsson (1986-1994), who is now the head coach at Gonzaga University, and continued with Sean Bushey (1996-2012), who now coaches in Minnesota.

Cathey enters his fifth season as men's soccer coach at Whitworth in the fall of 2017 and has led the Pirates to a record of 57-11-10 through his first four seasons.  He has guided the Pirates to three consecutive Northwest Conference titles from 2014-16 and made three straight appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament.  Cathey's record against NWC opponents is 42-5-9 over his first three seasons.  

He coached Michael Ramos to First Team All-America honors in 2014 and Ramos went on to be selected in the third round of the MLS draft by Toronto FC.  Cathey has also coached three straight NWC Men's Defensive Player of the Year winners:  Matt Bray (2014), Spencer Wolfe (2015) and Timmy Costa (2016). 

Cathey arrived at Whitworth after two seasons as the top assistant coach at California State University Stanislaus, where he helped lead the Warriors to their first-ever conference title and NCAA Division II tournament appearance. 

Cathey turned a successful playing career at the collegiate and professional levels into a coaching career.  He began his professional coaching stint while in South Africa.  He coached the Ambassadors FC (fifth tier) in 2009 and 2010, leading the squad to its best league finish in its eight-year history.  He also coached 11 Express (fourth tier) in 2009 and Hanover Park FC (second tier) in 2010 and 2011.

He returned to the United States in 2011, becoming the top assistant at CSU-Stanislaus with responsibility for day-to-day operations that included training, recruiting, fundraising and scouting.  The Warriors finished 11-6-2 in 2011 and 12-5-3 in 2012.  The 2012 season was the most successful in school history as the Warriors won their first CCAA tournament championship, then went on to defeat Nortre Dame de Namur 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs before falling to second-ranked Simon Fraser 2-1 in the second round.

Following a standout four years as the starting goalkeeper at Azusa Pacific University, Cathey went on to play for the Cascade Surge (Salem, Oregon) of the Premier Development League in 2006.  He turned that success into an invitation to play professionally in South Africa.  He spent three seasons (2007-09) with Ajax Cape Town and one year with Ikapa Sporting.  While with Ajax, he was the starter on a team that achieved a runner-up finish in Absa Premiership (the top tier in S.A. soccer), the best league finish in Ajax history.

At APU, Cathey was an honorable mention All-American in 2005 and the Cougars reached the NAIA national championship that season.  He ranks among the top-ten in Cougar history in career shutouts and goals-against average.  And it was while he was still in college that Cathey was first bitten by the coaching bug.  He coached at Glendora (Calif.) High School from 2004-2006, leading the varsity girls in 2005 and the varsity boys in 2006.

He is married to Cari Cathey and they have three children: Bauer (5), Lucca (3), and Mallie (1).