Where Are They Now: Hayden Coffman

2015 seems like such a simpler time, doesn’t it?  In those days, NFC was in the NPSL, and Hayden Coffman was often in goal.

Coffman is a native of Hendersonville, TN, and did some playing and coaching while attending Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.  So, joining the NPSL squad here was an obvious fit for him. 

Immediately after NFC, Coffman continued playing for Inter Nashville FC.  Several of his NFC teammates had joined that crew and encouraged him to come with them. During his second season there, he had to deal with a serious head injury.  At that time, he was also preparing to get married, and was thinking a lot about his future – so he decided to forego any more chances to get concussions and focus solely on coaching.

He had his first taste of coaching at the collegiate level while at Trevecca.  He helped first with the women’s team, and then as a goalkeeping coach with the men’s team.  He also helped with the CPS Academy for a few years, which introduced him to the world of youth soccer training. 

Now, Coffman is the director of goalkeeping for the Tennessee United Soccer Club in Hendersonville.  He works with both boys and girls between 10-18 years old.  He sees his time with them as a great way to give back to the community and have fun.

Coaching is also his “day job,” though, as he is gearing up for the start of his fourth school year as an assistant coach at Division 1 Austin Peay University in Clarksville. Coffman is excited to start his fourth year this fall, because it’ll be his first experience seeing a group of athletes go from being freshman to being seniors – a change which he equates to going from being a high school kid to being an adult.  Watching his student athletes grow up has been very rewarding.

Of course, this spring has led Coffman to find new ways to stay connected to the students while they cannot train together in person.  He relies mostly on weekly phone calls to build and maintain relationships with them.

Life in quarantine isn’t the only recent change in the Coffman house – in March, Hayden and his wife welcomed their first child, Hudson.  Having to stay home for a few extra weeks is somewhat of a blessing, with a new baby in the house.  But there are also challenges to not being able to rely on family to help with the new addition.  In fact, most of their family members haven’t even been able to meet baby Hudson yet!

Coffman keeps in touch with many of his old NFC teammates, and likes to talk shop with the others who have gone into coaching.  He also still follows NSC and had a tear in his eye when attending their first MLS game.  He said that it was amazing to see how far they’d come in such a short time, especially for a “local Nashville kid.”

He also points out that he is very thankful to the fans who always recognize him and include him (now that he also sits in the fan section).  When he was playing, The Roadies were the only recognized supporters’ group.  While he is excited that there are more groups now, he considers himself loyal to The Roadies (including the originals like JD Smith, Stephen Robinson, Newton Dominey, Robbie Melton, Ron Deal, and Chris Jones).  He says that any player would agree with him – the fans here make a player at any level feel like a superstar.