Nat Gonzalez rejoined the UC RIverside Men's Soccer Team as an assistant coach in August of 2011, more than ten years after he first set foot on campus as the team's head coach as the Highlanders re-started the program and made the move to Division I
The Highlanders improved each season under Nat Gonzalez's leadership during his first stint with the team winning a school-record seven matches in the 2003 season. He left the program prior to the 2004 campaign to become the associate head coach at USC for the women's team where he helped recruit the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2005. His 2006 squad ranked first in the Pac-10 and 15th nationally in goals allowed.
In 2007, Gonzalez became the associate head coach for the women's program at San Diego State where the team won the 2009 MWC Tournament Championship making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years and advancing to the second round.
Last season, Gonzalez was an assistant coach for the women's team at UCLA. He has also spent time as an assistant coach with the US Women's National Team, U-18 and U-20 squads while serving as the director of goalkeeping for Legends FC and the technical director at the Temecula Valley Soccer Academy.
Prior to joining the Highlanders in 2000, Gonzalez had assistant coaching stops at Cal Poly Pomona and the University of Washington. During his time in Seattle, Gonzalez helped the Huskies to consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) titles in 1998 and 1999. The team posted a 61-15-5 record over his five years.
Gonzalez, who was a four-year letter winner at UCLA from 1988-91, graduated in 1995 with a degree in psychology. He served as the women's teams goal keeping coach from 1994-95.
After finishing his college eligibility, he played professionally for six seasons, finishing his career in 1997 with the Seattle SeaDogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL).
