The 2026 season is Stuart Gore’s first year as head coach of the Montana soccer program. He was hired in February 2026 after coaching the previous three years at Troy.

He becomes the fifth coach in program history, joining Betsy Duerksen (1994-2003), Neil Sedgwick (2004-10), Mark Plakorus (2011-17) and Chris Citowicki (2018-25).

He takes over a program that has won 11 Big Sky Conference regular-season championships and been to seven NCAA tournaments.

Raised in Dunstable, England, Gore played on multiple age-group national teams in European and world competitions and was in the Leeds United youth program from 1996 to 2000.

He came to the U.S. in the early 2000s and played soccer at NCAA Division II University of Montevallo in Alabama before returning to Europe to play professionally for UD Lorca in Spain’s 2nd Division.

He began his U.S. college coaching career when he was hired, in 2012, to start the program at NAIA University of Northwestern Ohio.

Over five seasons, from 2013 to ’17, he led the Racers to a record of 100-15-6, the 2016 national championship, a runner-up finish in 2014 and national semifinal appearances in 2015 and ’17.

He was three times voted the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and four times in five years led his team to a regular-season championship.

Gore was the associate head coach at James Madison for the 2018 and ’19 seasons. The Dukes won the CAA regular-season championship in ’18 and twice played in the CAA tournament championship match.

Gore spent the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season as the associate head coach at North Dakota before being hired by Northwestern State for his first NCAA Division I head coaching job.

He led his first team, in 2021, to a 12-win season, the Southland Conference championship and the NCAA tournament while earning Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors.

The Demons won 12 matches again in 2022 and finished second in the Southland.

Gore was then hired by Troy and took the Trojans from a three-win season before he arrived to six wins in 2023. His teams won 16 matches over three seasons.

Gore, who has multiple UEFA and NSCAA coaching licenses and diplomas, earned a degree in psychology and information systems from the University of Lincoln in England in 1999.

STUART GORE AT A GLANCE
PERSONAL
Hometown	Dunstable, England
Education	University of Lincoln (UK), 1999
COACHING RESUME
Years	School, Position
2013-17	Northwestern Ohio, Head Coach
2018-19	James Madison, Associate Head Coach
2020	North Dakota, Associate Head Coach
2021-22	Northwestern State, Head Coach
2023-25	Troy, Head Coach
2026-present	Montana, Head Coach

COACHING HISTORY
Year	School	Record	Conf. Record	Conf. Finish	Postseason
2013	Northwestern Ohio	15-5-1	7-2-0	2nd
2014	Northwestern Ohio	22-2-1	8-1-0	1st	NAIA Runner-Up
2015	Northwestern Ohio	20-3-2	10-0-0	1st	NAIA Semifinals
2016	Northwestern Ohio	23-2-1	9-1-0	1st	NAIA Champions
2017	Northwestern Ohio	20-3-1	10-0-0	1st	NAIA Semifinals
2018	James Madison	11-8-1	7-1-1	1st	CAA Runner-Up
2019	James Madison	9-12-1	4-4-1	6th	CAA Runner-Up
2020	North Dakota	5-9-0	5-9-0	6th
2021	Northwestern State	12-6-2	10-2-0	1st	NCAA Tournament
2022	Northwestern State	12-4-3	8-2-2	2nd	SLC Semifinals
2023	Troy	6-10-2	1-7-2	7th West
2024	Troy	5-9-3	1-7-2	7th West
2025	Troy	5-9-3	0-7-3	t-6th West

Name	Title	Email Address	Phone (406)	Twitter
Stuart Gore	Head Coach	stuart.gore@mso.umt.edu	540-435-3591
J. Landham	Associate Head Coach	james.landham@umontana.edu	243-4397

University of Montana Athletics

2026 Soccer Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff