Fall Coaches
Girls Soccer
Hilary Coder begins this year as Exeter's Girls Varsity Soccer Coach with the same energy and enthusiasm that has been her trademark from day one in 1983. "I'm completely spoiled here at Exeter. Does the fact that I know I'm spoiled make that okay?" She lists the bright, hard-working and mature teenagers she gets to work with as gift number one. Add to that the numerous resources (athletic trainers, nutritionists, strength and conditioning specialists), the school and programs' history and the high caliber of colleagues and the result is a top notch experience for anyone that chooses to play soccer at Exeter.
Exeter soccer teams expect to reach deep into the tournament every year having made the eight team New England Prep School Tournament for 12 of the last 14. Exeter has been in the final 6 times. Coach Coder's philosophy is strikingly simple: "I'll take team chemistry and work ethic over flash of an individual player any day. An athlete who is willing to sacrifice their personal glory to make the team better is the one who impacts our team in the best and most significant way." She believes that deliberately building team dynamics through hard work, clearly established team goals and a willingness to spend the time with individuals as they mature is the best approach.
Coach Coder earned her degree from The Pennsylvania State University. Her first summer as Exeter's coach was spent in Manchester, England immersed in soccer at the Manchester United training grounds. She also has expertise in speed development, psychological principles and a teen's specific physiological fitness needs. She has two sons; Kelly '04 and Vaughan '08 who can brag that their grandfather was the chosen USA goalkeeper for the 1956 Olympic Soccer Team.
Coach Coder is also the head coach of Exeter's Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field teams.
Send email to Coach Hilary Coder.
Girls Cross Country
Gwyn Coogan certainly has made a significant impact in her first two seasons at the helm of the girls cross country program. Over her first two seasons, Coogan coached Big Red to their fourth and fifth straight New England Division I Championships which also included a perfect 8-0 record in head-to-head meets last season. The girls were runners up at the New England championships in 2005 and 2006.
Coogan certainly knows a thing or two about winning. The 1983 Exeter graduate took up track for the first time at Smith College, where she went on to capture two NCAA Division III Championships in the 3,000 meter. She later qualified for and ran the 10,000 meters for the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
A member of Exeter's math faculty, Coogan holds a bachelor's degree from Smith and a doctorate from the University of Colorado. She is married to former Olympian Mark Coogan, and has three children, the oldest of which attends Phillips Exeter Academy and is a member of the Varisty Soccer squad. Coach Coogan is also assistant coach of the Outdoor Track & Field teams.
Send email to Coach Gwyn Coogan.
Boys Cross Country
Nick Unger makes his head coaching debut this year, after serving as assistant coach under Mark Coogan for three years. Coach Unger inherits a dominant program that has won three New England Championships in the past four years, and he hopes to continue this tradition of excellence. "Lasse Viren, the 'Flying Finn,' has always been my idol," says Unger, "and I try to instill in my runners a trait he embodied: sisu, which, roughly translated, means courage, fortitude, and love of the woods. "By the way, our pre-race cheer is also Finnish, but you'll have to join the team to find out what that means." Before coming to Exeter, coach Unger was the head varsity coach of girls cross country for five years at St. Mark's School in Southborough, MA.
A member of the classics department, coach Unger earned his bachelor's degree at Yale University and his master's at University of California at Berkeley. Graduating from Exeter in 1990, he was co-captain of the cross country team under legendary coach Dave Weber.
Send email to Coach Nick Unger.
Boys Soccer
A.J. Cosgrove began working with the Exeter Soccer program in 1994. After spending his first year as the head JV coach, Coach Cosgrove assisted Coach Bill Dennehy with Boys Varsity Soccer for 13 years before assuming the responsibilities of head coach in 2008. Our team goal is simple; "We want to win the next game". The team has made the New England Class A tournament 3 of the past 5 seasons.
"Character, work ethic, athleticism, and of course soccer talent are the traits that I value the most in my players. Although many of our varsity players play soccer year round, the majority of our players are active in at least one additional varsity sport at Exeter. This is something that I take pride in encouraging and maintaining."
A member of the Science Department at Exeter since 1993, Cosgrove earned his undergraduate degree in physics from Geneseo State University in New York, and his Masters in Education from UMASS - Amherst.
Send email to Coach Cosgrove.
Football
Entering his 15th season as head coach of the football program at Exeter, Glennon is climbing the ladder toward the career 70-win mark, sporting a career record of 63-48-2 (.561) at the start of the 2006-2007 season.
His longtime perseverance paid off in the ultimate fashion in 2003 as Big Red posted a 10-0 record and captured the New England Prep School Championship.
Glennon modestly points to the players who have come through Exeter for his longtime success. "There have been some good years, and some pretty good talent," he notes.
Glennon played football and lacrosse at Springfield College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education. While pursuing a master's degree in education administration at the University at Albany (NY), he began his coaching career. Glennon later held coaching positions at Hampton-Sydney and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
Glennon served four years (1985-88) as head coach at RIT, compiling a 48-14 record, coaching 12 All-American and one Academic All American selections. He earned four straight Empire Athletic Conference titles, three NCAA tournament appearances and two NCAA "Final Four" appearances. His 14 wins in 1985 remains the RIT program record for wins in a season.
A successful lacrosse coach as well, Glennon serves as assistant coach of the Big Red varsity program in the Spring.
Glennon also serves as head coach of the boys junior varsity ice hockey program.
Send email to Coach Bill Glennon.
Water Polo
Don Mills started with the water polo program in 2002 as an assistant under legendary coach and program founder Roger Nekton. Mills assumed the head job in 2005 of both the water polo and swimming teams and his teams have gone on to win three New England titles and earn eight all-American honors.
Mills is a member of the physical education department since '02 and serves as the Director of the Ninth Grade Physical Education Program. The Plymouth State University grad is also the head coach of the varsity cycling team which has earned seven New England titles.
Coach Mills heads Wentworth Hall where he resides with his wife Susan, daughter Audrey and son Charlie. The three time all-American tri-athlete is a proponent of physical fitness for the entire Exeter community. Mills' philosophy; "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care".
Send email to Coach Don Mills.
Volleyball
Bruce Shang is entering his first year as head coach of the girl's varsity volleyball program. Before the move to volleyball he was the assistant coach for boy's varsity soccer. In the winter, he is the assistant coach for girls squash and in the spring he is the assistant coach for boys and girls track and field. Before squash he was an assistant for the JV boy's basketball team and head coach of winter track.
Coach Shang has a B.S. in exercise science from Rutgers University and a Masters degree in Health education from The College of New Jersey. He served as an assistant coach to the Rutgers University women's volleyball team for 3 years, one year almost winning the Big East Championship. He has worked as head coach of SF Juniors volleyball club, and has worked the following volleyball camps for Nike, University of San Francisco, Rutgers University, and Fairfield University.
Before coming to Exeter, Shang was teaching and coaching at The San Francisco School. At SFS he was the athletic director, physical education teacher, health education teacher and created the curriculum, coached the cross-country team, JV and Varsity volleyball coach, JV and Varsity boy's basketball team, JV and Varsity girl's basketball team, and JV and Varsity Futsal soccer teams.
He has a level 1 certification in Track and Field, level 1, 2, and 3 certification in Goalkeeping, and NSCAA national diploma for soccer. He is certified to teach Physical Education and Health in both NJ and California. In the past he has worked as an ACE certified personal trainer at NYSC.
Send email to Coach Shang
