New Utah head coach Hideki Nakada solidifies 2021 technical staff

SALT LAKE CITY – Newly minted University of Utah soccer head coach Hideki Nakada has solidified his staff for the upcoming 2021 season. He will retain associate head coach Scott Halasz while bringing along Christine McBeath and Joe Jackson from Stanford.

“When putting my staff together, my priority was bringing in people I can trust first and foremost,” Nakada said. “With that said, I feel very fortunate to have retained Scott while also having Christine and Joe both trusting me with my vision to achieve the ambitious goals I have for the program to join me from Stanford. They are all great at what they do, but more importantly, they are wonderful people that will have a positive impact on our student-athletes both on and off the field.”

With his retention on staff, Halasz will enter ninth overall season with the Utes in 2021 and fifth as associate head coach.

“Scott’s skillset and expertise will be invaluable for our program’s long-term success,” Nakada noted. “I’ve always been impressed with his knowledge and work ethic. I am thankful to have someone of his caliber on my staff to help move the program in the right direction.”

McBeath, a former standout from St. John’s, will serve as an assistant coach for the Utes after spending the past season on The Farm as a volunteer assistant. The Williamsburg, Va., native started in 55-of-66 games and was a mainstay for the Red Storm backline. After seeing action in 11 games her first year, McBeath won the starting position and started every game the rest of her career at St. John’s.

“Christine is one of the top young coaches and I am excited to see what she can accomplish with our student-athletes moving forward,” said Nakada. “I was really impressed with her coaching ability, knowledge of the game and her passion for the game during our time together at Stanford.”

In addition to her serving as team captain her senior year, McBeath took full advantage of her time as a student-athlete and served on the executive board of St John’s’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She was also involved in the BIG EAST Conference’s “It’s on Us” campaign for sexual assault prevention awareness and served for Community Mayors in New York City, an organization dedicated hosting events for special needs children in the area.

Jackson will join the Utah soccer program as the director of operations, a similar role he held for the Cardinal men’s and women’s soccer programs the past three seasons. In addition to his day-to-day duties, Jackson was also integral in the game-day experience at Maloney Field.

Prior to joining Stanford, Jackson spent two years laying the groundwork for Atlanta United FC’s highly successful 2017 debut season. He started in the organization’s marketing and social media department before transitioning into growing the youth soccer movement in the state of Georgia and closed out his tenure there as a senior premium sales account executive. Just before joining Atlanta United FC, Jackson spent the final five months of 2015 as a sales trainee with the Major League Soccer (MLS) National Sales Center.

“Having Joe join our program was one of my priorities during this process as I could not think of anyone better in his role,” Nakada said of Jackson. “His role goes far beyond his title and he played an important role in the success we’ve had together over the years. He was also integral in making the Stanford game day experience one of the best in college soccer. I am really excited for our student-athletes to see him transform their student-athlete experience here at The U.”

A 2015 graduate from the University of Oregon, Jackson is very familiar with the Pac-12. During his time in Eugene, Jackson served as the president and captain of the Oregon club soccer team and was a marketing intern with the athletics department – working with the baseball program specifically in 2013 season.