CHICAGO (May 17, 2024) – The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) has extended the contracts of men's soccer head coach Sean Phillips and women's soccer head coach David Nikolic, Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz announced Friday. The multi-year extensions were approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at its meeting this week.
 
Also on Thursday, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees approved the full contract for the Flames' new men's basketball head coach Rob Ehsan, who took the reins at UIC last month.
 
"Sean and David are each outstanding coaches and representatives of UIC and have the Flames competing at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference," Lipitz said. "We're excited for them to lead our soccer programs for years to come."
 
Phillips completed his 14^th season at UIC last fall, a campaign in which he led the Flames to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals and a top-20 national ranking (the program's first since 2014). UIC finished 11-5-3 last season, including 8-1-1 at home, and earned key non-conference wins over Wisconsin and Loyola while posting a No. 37 NCAA RPI ranking. Phillips also helped develop five Flames into all-conference selections, including two who received all-region accolades.
 
Since becoming head coach at UIC in 2010, Phillips has led the Flames to three NCAA Tournament appearances, six conference titles (three regular season, three postseason) and has tutored 47 all-conference players and 28 all-region honorees, including 2019 second-team All-American Jesus Perez. Phillips will enter the 2024 season with 130 career wins at UIC, putting him on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in program history (Sasha Begovic recorded 136 wins with the Flames from 1990-2004).
 
"Serving as the head coach of the UIC men's soccer program remains an incredible privilege," Phillips said. "I am truly grateful to our campus leadership, including Chancellor Miranda and Michael Lipitz, as well as our student body, fans, and donors, who make UIC such a special place. This support has been crucial to our program's goal of sustained success on the pitch, in the classroom and in the community. That success would not be possible without countless current and former Flames, who have made the commitment to work hard every day to compete for, and win championships, and keep UIC men's soccer on the national stage.
 
"I have also had the tremendous fortune to coach alongside a talented and dedicated staff that is the most consistent in the country," Phillips continued. "Aleksey Korol and Minos Vlamakis have been my assistant coaches since day one, and Stan Anderson has been with us as our goalkeeper coach since 2017. Their invaluable contributions have helped build and maintain our championship culture.
 
"As we enter our third season in the Missouri Valley Conference, playing in our beautifully renovated facility (Flames Field), I am incredibly excited, not only for the future of UIC men's soccer, but for our entire UIC Athletics family."
 
Nikolic (pronounced NICK-o-lich) finished his third season at UIC last fall, having guided the Flames to a spot in the MVC Tournament semifinals with the program's second-ever postseason victory, a shootout win over Murray State in the quarterfinal round, and its third conference tournament semifinal berth.
 
During Nikolic's tenure, UIC has finished in the top four in the MVC standings in both seasons the Flames have been a conference member. He has also helped coach 11 All-MVC selections in that span, five in 2022 and six this past season. UIC women's soccer has further excelled in the classroom under Nikolic, culminating with a 3.73 team GPA during the fall 2023 semester, the highest by any Flames' program during the term.
 
"I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue this work here at UIC," Nikolic said. "What we are doing here and aiming to achieve is to build and sustain a long-term project of success with UIC women's soccer. Our ambitions to reach the top are the same as when we walked in a few years ago and it takes a lot of hard work to make that happen behind the scenes, especially from my coaching and support staff. This work continues daily as we are not there yet, but the team had a very productive spring season, and we look to build on this and are excited to see them again in action this fall. Continued thanks to Michael Lipitz and (deputy athletics director) Farrah Manthei for their belief in me, my ideas and what we are trying to accomplish with UIC women's soccer. Fire Up, Flames!"
 
Ehsan (pronounced E-sahn) brings 20 years of college basketball coaching experience to Chicago, including four as the head coach at UAB where he posted winning seasons in each campaign. He spent the past three years as associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Stanford University in the Pac-12 Conference. The full announcement on his hiring can be found by CLICKING HERE.
 
Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC scholar-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective. In addition, season ticket deposits for the 2024-25 Flames' men's and women's basketball campaigns are currently being accepted online through Ticketmaster or by contacting the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312.413.8421; athleticsticketing@uic.edu).
 
For more information on UIC Athletics, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UICFlames) and Instagram (@uicflames).