Blair Stevenson was hired prior to the 2017 campaign and serves as the top assistant on Stu Riddle's staff.
With Stevenson on the bench, the 2020 Norse won the Horizon League Regular-Season Championship, finished runner-up in the league tournament, and achieved their first national ranking as a Division I program, reaching as high as No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. NKU also reached as high as No. 17 in the RPI and third in the United Soccer Coaches North Region. Daniel Bermingham was tabbed as the league's Goalkeeper of the Year and was joined on the first team all-league by Dylan Bufton and Justin Earle. Ryan Godding picked up second team accolades while Deryn Armstrong and Roberto Burlew garnered status on the all-freshman squad. Bermingham, Earle, Burlew and Ben Hegge were each named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team.
The Norse were also up to the task in the classroom in the 2020-21 academic year either, finishing with a 3.45 cumulative GPA in the fall and a 3.46 in the spring.
In 2019, Stevenson helped NKU to a 7-10-1 record. The 2019 team boasted a prolific offense that finished 14th in the nation in points per game (6.28) and had the highest goal-scoring game in Division I after a 11-0 rout over Berea. Senior Connor Probert and junior Alex Greive were each named to the All-Horizon League second team, while midfielder Ali Zohar was named to the League's All-Freshman team. Senior Rikard Lindqvist received two prestigious All-Academic accolades for the second-consecutive season, garnering CoSIDA Academic All-America and Horizon League All-Academic selections.
Greive experienced heaps of success throughout the calendar year. After being called into the New Zealand national team in February, he scored the most goals in a single match during NKU's Division I era (four against Berea on Oct. 9), finished the season second in goals per game (1.00), and led the Horizon League in goals (15) and points (34).
In 2018, he helped the team to a 10-7 record. The 10 wins were the most for the program in the Division I era. The team also achieved a No. 9 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches North Region poll earlier in the season. The North Region included all four teams that advanced to the Final Four of the 2018 NCAA College Cup.
Freshman Alex Willis was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and to the All-Horizon League First Team. He was also selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region Second Team, the Top Drawer Soccer Freshmen Best XI First Team and the College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team. Willis finished the season ranked as the 11th-best freshman by Top Drawer Soccer. Sophomore Alex Grieve earned All-Horizon League Second Team honors, and freshman Stian Jørgensen was named to the All-Horizon League Freshman team.
In 2018, Willis finished fourth in the NCAA in goals scored, Greive tied for fourth in total assists, and the team ranked ninth in the NCAA in scoring offense with 2.18 goals per match.
The 2018 season also saw Rikard Lindqvist and Jim Barkei earn Horizon League All-Academic Team honors. Additionally, Lindqvist was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team and the Google Cloud Academic All-America Third Team, as selected by CoSIDA.
Prior to this past season, the team achieved a 3.48 GPA in the Spring of 2018 semester, which was the highest GPA in program history.
Head Coach Stu Riddle announced the addition of Stevenson as Assistant Men's Soccer Coach on March 7, 2017. Stevenson joined the Norse as the top assistant after working alongside Riddle at the University at Buffalo.
Stevenson most recently served as the Assistant Coach at Buffalo during the 2016 season. Stevenson helped lead the Bulls to the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championship finals. At Buffalo, the Scotland native was responsible for gameday tactics, scouting, player development, video analysis and college ID camp coordination. Stevenson also helped guide the Bulls to a program-best No. 2 Great Lakes Regional ranking, top-50 NCAA RPI ranking and final record of 12-4-3.
Prior to UB, Stevenson served as Assistant Coach at Syracuse University where he was responsible for planning training sessions and gameday tactics, community relations, youth soccer camp organization and scouting. During his time at Syracuse, the Orange won the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Men's College Cup after earning the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Two members of the 2015 squad were drafted in the 2016 MLS First Round - Julian Büscher (11th overall, D.C. United) and Ben Polk (20th overall, Portland Timbers).
"To have a coach on staff that has been part of an ACC winning team and part of a run to the Final Four is fantastic for us," added Riddle. "Blair was instrumental in our success at Buffalo last season and I have no doubt he will be a huge asset to the program."
Stevenson was also the Assistant Coach at Le Moyne College for two seasons where he earned his master's degree in education and helped the Dolphins to a 23-13-0 record. Stevenson played for NCAA Division II program Montana State University Billings from 2009 through 2013. Following his collegiate career, Stevenson also played in the Premier Development League for two seasons with the Ottawa Fury and Toronto Lynx in 2011 and 2012.
