Nat Gonzalez was named the head men's soccer coach at UC Riverside in August of 2000 and he served in that capacity until his resignation on February 12, 2004.
The Ontario, CA native was 12-36-8 during his three years at the helm of the Highlanders including a 6-20-4 mark in the Big West. The team improved its record in each of his three seasons going 7-10-1 in his final year and finishing tied for fifth in the Big West with a 3-6-1 mark.
After leaving Riverside, Gonzalez became the Associate Head Coach for USC's women's soccer team where he remained for three seasons. In June of 2007, he joined the San Diego State women's soccer program as an assistant coach
Gonzalez came to UC Riverside from the University of Washington where he served as the Huskies' goaltender coach under Coach Dean Wurzberger from 1996-2000. During his tenure with the Husies, the team won the 1998 and 1999 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships and were consistently ranked in the top-20.
Prior to joining Washington, Gonzalez served as an assistant at Cal Poly Pomona in 1995-96 under Coach Todd Saldana and as a graduate assistant for the UCLA women's soccer team under Coach Joy Fawcett in 1994-95.
He is a 1988 graduate of Chaffey High School where he earned three letters, First-Team All-Baseline League honors as a senior and second-Team honors as a sophomore and junior. Gonzalez was a standout goalkeeper and four-year letterman at UCLA from 1988-91 helping the Bruins to the 1990 National Championship. In 1991 he was selected to the Olympic Development Program Under-23 Regional Team.
Gonzalez was drafted by the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League where he played from 1991-93 beginning a six-year professional career. While with Wichita he was named to the 1991 All-Rookie Team and was a finalist for rookie of the year. He also played with the Arizona Sandharks in 1993, the Los Angeles Salsa in 1994-95 and the Seattle SeaDogs in 1995-96.
Gonzalez earned his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1995. he possesses a United States Soccer Federation "B" License and is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, running, playing basketball and reading biographies.
