Chris Whalley is the head coach of Lionsbridge FC of the Premier Development League and the Chowan University men's soccer team. He is the former head coach of Lees-McRae College and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Whalley was named head coach of Lionsbridge FC on 14 February 2018. In 11 seasons as a college head coach since 2005, Whalley has amassed a 127-68-25 record. Under Whalley's direction, Lees-McRae won 74 percent of its games, including a 77-22-11 record. He led the team to three Carolinas Conference titles, two tournament titles, a number one national ranking, and a NCAA national runner-up finish and Sweet 16 appearance. Whalley remains ranked 5th among NCAA Division II college coaches and 23rd among all college coaches in career winning percentage. He coached 14 All-Americans and 32 All-Region players during his tenure with the Bobcats. On 2 February 2010, Whalley was announced as head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He took over a program that went 3-13-3 in the year prior to his appointment. Whalley's teams won six games in 2010 and again in 2011. One of those 2011 victories came against nationally ranked Northern Illinois in 2011, marking the first win over a ranked team since 2006. Whalley returned to North Carolina in 2012 as an assistant coach at Appalachian State University and spent two seasons with the Mountaineers. On 5 January 2014, Whalley was named head coach at Chowan. He inherited a program that went 1-14 in the year prior to his appointment. The team has since posted four consecutive winning seasons for the first time in school history. In 2014, his first season in Murfreesboro, Whalley led Chowan to a 12-8 record. In his second season, Chowan won the NCCAA South Region Championship. In 2017, the team posted a 67% winning percentage, the best mark in the Chowan history. On 6 October 2016, the Chowan men's soccer team was announced as a recipients of the 2015-16 NSCAA Team Academic Awards. The team posted a teamgrade point average of 3.03. Whalley previously served as head coach of the West Virginia Chaos of the Premier Development League in 2009. Whalley lives in Suffolk, Va., with his wife, Alexis, and their son, James Jack.
Playing career
Whalley played his college soccer at Mercyhurst College where he helped lead the Lakers to the NCAA Division II tournament and an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2002. He was part of two GLIAC championships in 2001 and 2002 and was named First Team All-GLIAC in those same seasons. After his college days, Whalley also appeared for the Reading Rage and starred as a player/assistant coach for the West Virginia Chaos from 2005-08.
