A two-time MAAC Coach of the Year, Dermot McGrane is in his 11th season leading the Golden Griffin men’s soccer program. The program’s all-time winningest head coach, McGrane was named the school’s 14th head coach on Jan. 21, 2011, after spending the previous nine years turning Niagara University into one of the top programs in the MAAC.
It took less than five years for McGrane to duplicate the process with the Griffs and turn Canisius into a MAAC contender. In just his second season on campus in 2012, the program enjoyed one of the most successful campaigns in the school’s history. The team received votes in the national poll for the first time in its history and reached as high as second in the NSCAA North Atlantic poll.
Canisius has continued to raise the bar since its breakthrough 2012 campaign. In 2014, the Griffs set or matched 11 school records and capped the successful campaign by winning the inaugural Big 4 Shield – an annual competition among the four local soccer schools (Canisius, Buffalo, Niagara and St. Bonaventure).
The 2017 season saw Canisius enjoy its best campaign in recent memory as it won a program-record 12 games and advanced to the semifinals of the MAAC Championship in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
One of the top offensive team’s in the nation, McGrane’s 2017 squad ranked among the top programs in Division I in scoring offense (2.25/5th), total goals (45/7th), total assists (48/5th), total points (138/7th) and shots on goal per game (7.4/4th).
A school-record five players garnered All-MAAC accolades, highlighted by four first-team selections. Junior Alex Grattarola was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, becoming just the third Golden Griffin player to earn the award.
McGrane also reached a personal milestone during the 2017 season as he became the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 3-2 overtime victory at eventual MAAC Tournament champion Fairfield on Sept. 30.
On an individual level, McGrane has helped a number of student-athletes at Canisius elevate their game. In 2012, the Griffs had two players garner regional All-America accolades in the same season for the first time in school history when Gavin Falconer was named to the NSCAA All-North Atlantic First Team and Asani Samuels collected third-team accolades. Samuels, who repeated as an all-region honoree in 2013 and 2014 to become the first three-time all-region honoree in the program’s history, also became the first Griff under McGrane to ink a professional contract when he signed with the Rochester Rhinos. The Canisius standout wasted no time in making an impact at the next level as Samuels scored the tying goal in stoppage time and the game winner in overtime in the 2015 USL Championship to earn MVP honors. The Griffs duplicated the feat in 2016 when Thomas Teupen and Melvin Blair were named first and second team All-Northeast Region, respectively.
The process of turning Canisius into a premier program is a familiar one for McGrane. The winningest head coach in Niagara history, McGrane inherited a program that won only 27 games in the 11 seasons prior to his arrival and then took the team to six MAAC Championship Tournament appearances, including the program's first title game in 2009.
Overall, McGrane led Niagara to 61 wins in his nine seasons, including 39 conference victories and seven seasons of at least a .500 winning percentage versus MAAC foes. His success with the Purple Eagles did not go unnoticed by his peers, earning MAAC Coach of the Year accolades in back-to-back seasons following the 2005 and 2006 campaigns.
In his 18-plus seasons overall coaching in the MAAC, McGrane has guided a number of players to individual accolades. McGrane coached and recruited three MAAC Players of the Year, one MAAC Rookie of the Year, 20 regional All-Americans plus 36 all-conference student-athletes.
Performance away from the soccer pitch has been just as important during his tenure. His teams have posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher every season and McGrane has mentored 111 MAAC All-Academic selections in addition to 10 NSCAA Scholar-Athletes and two CoSIDA Academic All-District selections. Canisius led all teams in the conference with 14 MAAC All-Academic honorees during the 2015 season.
Prior to his time at Niagara, McGrane spent five seasons as the top assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University. With the Chanticleers, McGrane helped build the program into a perennial power. He recruited three players drafted into the MLS, including the third overall selection in 2003, and six All-Americans. Coastal Carolina captured three Big South Championships and one NCAA Tournament appearance during McGrane's term.
McGrane's first collegiate coaching position was as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky from 1995 to 1997, helping the Hilltoppers to their first Sun Belt Conference Championship in 1995. McGrane has also held coaching positions on the Region III staff for the United States Olympic Development Program from 2000 to 2002 and as the head coach of South Carolina for the U.S. ODP from 1997 to 2002.
A native of Leicester, England, McGrane holds his “A” license from the USSF and his Advanced National Diploma from the NSCAA.
McGrane played four seasons at Elmira College, earning NCAA All-North Region honors, the Elmira College Booster Club MVP and the school's Male Athlete of the Year accolades.
A 1994 graduate of Elmira, McGrane received his bachelor's degree in psychology. He also earned his master's in recreation management from Western Kentucky in 1997.
McGrane and his wife, Patricia, reside in Niagara Falls, and has a daughter, Ciara.
