Nick Melville - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory - James Madison University Athletics

Staff Directory

Nick Melville

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Phone:
207-400-4737
Physical Address:
Convocation Center 1037 (895 University Blvd) / MSC 4705

Following a brief stint as the volunteer assistant coach, Nick Melville was elevated to assistant coach, as announced by Head Coach Paul Zazenski on August 27, 2018. Melville made the leap from athlete to coach, coming to JMU at the end of July as a volunteer assistant coach. In a matter of weeks, Melville was given the full-time position.

During his seventh season at JMU, Melville helped the Dukes to an 8-5-6 record and an appearance in the Sun Belt semifinals. Continuing his work with the goalkeepers, Melville saw the rise of Sebastian Conlon who was named the Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the Year while also earning first team honors on the All-Sun Belt and All-Region teams. With Conlon in goal, the Dukes were a top-25 defensive team in the country at season's end. The Dukes also were ranked for the majority of the season, earning season-high ranks of eighth by United Soccer Coaches and seventh by TopDrawerSoccer. Luca Nikolai and Kevin Larsson also earned All-Sun Belt honors, with Nikolai joining Conlon on both the Sun Belt and region first teams.

In his sixth season at JMU, Melville helped elevate the Dukes to a 10-5-5 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Round of 16 for the just the fifth time in program history. The Dukes had multiple top-three ranked results, taking down No. 1 UCF to end the regular season and No. 3 Georgetown in the NCAA Second Round while drawing No. 3 West Virginia in the regular season. All three were on the road. JMU also had its first ever Freshman All-American in Luca Nikolai. Clay Obara and Rodrigo Robles were both tabbed All-Region with Kevin Larsson joining the three as All-Sun Belt Conference selections.

Melville entered his fifth season with JMU in 2022, which saw the program boast an 8-8-4 record going through its first season in the Sun Belt Conference. The Dukes went unbeaten in six of their final seven matches of the regular season and used the momentum to take down fifth-ranked and two-seeded Marshall in the quarterfinals and three-seeded Georgia State in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship to make an appearance in the championship match. Alex Krakowiak was tabbed to the All-Sun Belt Second Team while Tyler Clegg earned All-Region Third Team honors.

In his fourth season on the sideline, Melville helped guide the Dukes to an 11-5-1 record during the fall. The Dukes finished third in the league, and were ranked as high as No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll. A six-match winning streak in the middle of the season was the longest such streak since the 2019 season and aided JMU to a 10-2 start through 12 matches, the best start since 2004.

On for his third season as an assistant, Melville helped lead the Dukes to a 5-1-3 record during a shortened spring season. The Dukes never loss or tied a conference game for the third time in program history on their way to winning their third consecutive CAA championship, making it the second three-peat in program history and the only team in CAA history to three-peat in men's soccer twice.

In 2019, Melville helped guide JMU to the program's seventh CAA championship and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Dukes hosted a first round match, which was the first at Sentana Park and the first time JMU hosted Men's Soccer NCAA Tournament matches since 2011.

During his first season as an assistant coach, Nicholas Melville helped the program to a 15-5-3 overall record while winning the 2018 regular-season Colonial Athletic Association title, 2018 CAA Championship title and a Quarterfinal appearance in the 2018 NCAA Championship for the first time since 1995.

After a stellar 2018 season, the soccer staff was named the Regional Staff of the Year for the Atlantic Region by United Soccer Coaches. James Madison finished the season ranked No. 8 in Top Drawer Soccer, No. 9 in College Soccer News and No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches Polls.

Melville began his collegiate career at Iowa Western where he helped the program to a 48-0 record over the course of his two seasons, winning the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I national title in 2013 and reaching the semifinals in 2014. His postseason performance was recognized in 2014 as he was named to the NJCAA National Tournament All-Tournament team. In his two seasons as a Reiver, he scored 11 goals and tallied six assists.

After a two-year stint at Iowa Western, Melville transferred to Cincinnati where he started every game in 2015 and 2016. In his 37 games as a Bearcat, he tallied nine points from two goals and five assists.

Melville graduated from Cincinnati in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in communications and earned his MBA in 2024 from JMU. He received 2018 preseason invites from FC Cincinnati and Bethlehem Steel FC of the United Soccer League and chose to play for FCC.