Men’s Soccer Alums Honor Beloved Coach Charlie Slagle With Head Coaching Endowment

Charlie Slagle ’74 came to Davidson College to play football. 

During his time as a Wildcat, he converted from football to soccer and discovered a passion that would shape his career and life. In only two seasons, Slagle earned All-Southern Conference honors as a goalie, and he still holds the program record for saves in a season.

His success as a player transitioned into his success as the program’s head coach, a position he held for 21 seasons. He became the winningest coach in program history, which included the 1992 run to the national semifinals, and was known for being competitive, funny and loud. 

Today, a group of former Davidson men’s soccer scholar-athletes have come together to honor and remember their beloved coach, mentor and friend and support the program that helped shape their lives by creating the Charlie Slagle Men’s Soccer Head Coaching Endowment. 

Schwab and Boylan agree many of their closest relationships and most important lessons came from the men’s soccer program under Slagle’s direction. 

“Davidson is the best place in the country to be a Division I scholar-athlete,” Schwab said. “That’s because you’re actually a scholar and an athlete, and the size of the school allows you to be fully integrated with the life of campus. That’s unique compared to other schools.”

“We’ve carried this experience with us into our adult lives,” said Boylan. “We know when it’s time to work and when it’s time to play and how to stay balanced overall.” 

In 1992, when the Wildcats made a run to the men’s soccer Final Four, Slagle told The New York Times about how his program competed against the nation’s elite programs without a single soccer scholarship: “We try to recruit on the basis of the academics of the school and the strength of the soccer schedule. We have one of the strongest schedules in the country and we offer the kind of education students get in Ivy League schools … I'm proud of the fact that in the last eight years, our soccer players have accumulated a grade point average of over 3.0, and many have been campus leaders.” 

Today, the men’s soccer program is run by Coach Mike Babst, and the head coaching endowment will provide much-needed funding for the program to recruit top talent, train at the highest levels and compete with the best programs in the country. 

“Charlie was the hub that connected so many generations of Davidson soccer players,” he said. “It is such a wonderful honor that his former players have contributed to ensure his name will always be a part of the program. This generous support gives our team the ability to pursue the ambitious goals he always believed possible. It will increase the level of support that all our current and future players will feel during their time at Davidson.” 

Slagle’s teams worked hard, but there was always time for a laugh … and a little embarrassment. As a side job, he delivered newspapers to the residence halls on campus; walking the halls of college dorms in the wee hours of the morning.

“He’d get a Super Big Gulp of Diet Coke and drive a white van around delivering the papers,” Schwab recalled. “You can imagine what he saw at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. … students walking back from somewhere maybe they weren’t supposed to be. He’d bring little zingers to our stretching circle that afternoon: ‘Schwaby? Fall asleep on the wrong side of campus last night?’ It always set the mood for practice.”

Winning Coach and Advocate

Slagle coached the men’s soccer program from 1980-2000, posting a record of 209-202-31. He is the longest-tenured and winningest coach in the 68-year history of the program. His standout 1992 squad reached the national semifinals and finished the season ranked 16th in the coaches’ poll and 15th by Soccer America. Slagle went on to become the CEO of the Capital Area Soccer League in Raleigh. 

Slagle was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year seven times and Regional Coach of the Year twice. Following the 1992 season, he was named the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year. Davidson won three SoCon regular-season titles and two tournament crowns during his 21 years at the helm. Slagle passed away in 2019 at the age of 67.

Slagle was a tremendous advocate for collegiate soccer. At the time of his induction into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005, the organization shared: 

Despite the fact that soccer was growing at Davidson College and in the surrounding communities, Coach Slagle was bothered by a nagging obsession. Year after year, he was struck by an embarrassing lack of fanfare connected with NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer’s premier event — the National Championships. So he took matters into his own hands by spearheading Davidson’s bid to host the 1992 Championships. In an incredible convergence of skill, fate and opportunity, Davidson not only hosted the event, but also advanced to compete in the national semi-finals and earned Coach Slagle NCAA Men’s Division I National Coach-of-the-Year honors. Even though all 8,000 tickets were sold out before the Wildcats even qualified for the event, their presence made the championships the happening that became the precursor to today’s College Cup. Under Slagle’s direction, Davidson would later host the 1993 and 1994 championships. As the seating capacity increased each year, the size of the sellout crowds increased as well. The NCAA finally found a fitting environment to showcase the top teams in America. Slagle continues his role as tournament organizer and promoter to this day. He directed the NCAA Men’s College Cup in Charlotte in 1999 and 2000, and five ACC tournaments, two NCAA Division I Women’s College Cups, and four U.S. National Team games at SAS Soccer Park. 

Charlie’s promotion of soccer helped focus the spotlight held by the general sporting public onto the game. He was selected as “Sportsman of the Year” by the Charlotte Sportsman’s Club in 1992, was honored with the John B. Ross Leadership Award given by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, and was named “Tar Heel of the Week” by the (Raleigh) News & Observer. He also was the recipient of two prestigious awards presented by the NSCAA — the 1993 Bill Jeffrey Award, given for service to intercollegiate soccer, and the Honor Award, given for outstanding contributions at any level. He also served an appointment as the Division I representative to the NCAA Soccer Rules Committee.

Read more about Slagle’s extraordinary impact on Davidson and the sport of soccer in the 2022 Charlotte Magazine article, “The Davidson Team That Changed College Soccer,” written by fellow Wildcat Jonathan Swann ’19.