The 19th head coach in Franklin & Marshall history, Dan
Wagner enters his 11th season as the squad's mentor this fall. A
two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America
(NSCAA)/Adidas Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, Wagner has
turned the Diplomats into a consistent national player.
Wagner’s first two seasons were building blocks for what
would become one of the most successful stretches in program
history. The Diplomats won only 12 of their 34 games in 2002
and 2003 and finished last in Centennial Conference in 03. The
program came roaring back in 2004, with 11 wins marking one of the
ten best season-to-season turnarounds for a program in the NCAA
that year. Since 2004 the Diplomats have only lost 33 times in 125
contests while consistently having one of the toughest schedules in
the country.
From 2006 to present, the Diplomats have participated in the
NCAA tournament twice were three times ranked in the top 25 of the
national rankings at the season's end. Wagner led the team to
its best season in program history in 2007 with 15 wins, along with
a return trip to the NCAA tournament. F&M went undefeated at
home during the regular season, starting the year 12-0 and not
allowing a goal in the first eight games. The
Diplomats won the Centennial Conference (CC) regular season
championship and reached as high as No. 9 in the Division III
national coaches poll, ending the season ranked 21st with a 15-4
record. Wagner mentored Brandon Corday to his second straight CC
Player of the Year award and first team All-America honors, the
only soccer player in Centennial history to accomplish this.
2010 saw F&M return to the national spotlight as they
finished the regular season second in the CC and 23rd in the nation
as ranked by the NSCAA. F&M had a run of over 600 minutes
conceding only one goal and going 3-0-2 against the top-five teams
in the Centennial. The 2011 Diplomats posted the eighth winning
season in Wagner's tenure at the helm, advancing to the CC playoffs
for the third straight year.
Wagner's soccer pedigree is rich. Steeped in the rich
tradition of Messiah soccer, where he excelled as an undergrad,
Wagner is the only player to captain the Falcons for three seasons.
While playing in Grantham, he earned All-Middle Atlantic Conference
honors in 1991, 1994 and 1995. He finished his career at Messiah
with 16 goals and 23 assists for 55 points. Wagner also captained
Mechanicsburg High School for three seasons and was named Mid-Penn
Player of the Year in 1991. He also was All-State and
captained his EPYSA ODP team.
Wagner also directs the F&M Soccer Africa Project, a
cooperative venture with Amandla Edufootball and the CTC Ten
Foundation. This group has created the Chris Campbell Memorial
Field as well as a clubhouse and education center in Khayelitsha
South Africa. The facility operates similar to a boy’s and
girl’s club in the United States and promotes positive life
choices for underprivileged youth in one of the poorest areas of
South Africa. The idea of the facility was conceived by Wagner,
created by CTC Ten and is now managed by South African NGO Amandla
Edufootball. The F&M soccer team travels to Cape Town every
three years in support of the facility. Wagner also works
closely with F&M’s Ware Institutes for Civic Engagement
in supporting faculty and student study abroad, volunteer and
community based learning experiences.
In addition to his time at Franklin & Marshall, Wagner is
the Co-Director of Tactical Team Trainers, conducting high school
soccer team and player development camps. Dan’s Co-Director
is Mark Wagner who serves as the men’s soccer coach of
Eastern University in St. Davids Pa.
Wagner first
went from the pitch to the sideline at Northern York High School,
coaching the girls' junior varsity (1994) and varsity (1995) teams.
From Dillsburg, it was on to Pequea Valley High School, where he
stood at the helm for two seasons. In that time, he raised the
varsity boys' program from a 5-13 record in 1997, to 14-4 in 1998.
The sudden turnaround earned Wagner the 1998 Lancaster-Lebanon
League Section III Coach of the Year award, and demonstrated his
uncanny knack for making his teams instantly competitive.
Prior to his joining the staff at Franklin & Marshall,
Wagner served as the head boys' soccer coach at Penn Manor High
School from 1999 through the spring of 2002. He currently resides
in Lancaster Township with his wife, Shelby, and children, Tyler
and Kassidy.
