Doug Socha (born ) is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach. He is the head football coach for

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. Founded in 1891, the university is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university i ...

, a position he has held since 2024. Socha led the

Keiser Seahawks The Keiser Seahawks are the athletic teams that represent Keiser University, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Su ...

to back-to-back

NAIA Football National Championship The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football National Championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best NAIA college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the National Associa ...

title games in 2022 and 2023: winning in

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Playing career and education

Socha played college football for

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. The college is adjacent to Grant High School in the neighborhood of Valley Glen. Often call ...

and

Mesa State Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mon ...

as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. In 1999, he graduated from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

Coaching career

In 1997, Socha was an assistant football coach for

Grand Junction High School Grand Junction High School (GJHS) is a public high school located in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Mesa County Valley School District 51. It is one of four high schools located within the Grand Valley. History Ori ...

. From 1998 to 1999 Socha was the defensive backs coach for the

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loc ...

. In 2000, Socha joined Buffalo as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

before becoming the team's wide receivers coach from 2001 to 2005. Socha spent four years—2006 to 2009—as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for American Heritage School in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...

, before being promoted to head football coach in 2010. In August 2012, Socha was hired as the inaugural head football coach for

Oxbridge Academy Oxbridge Academy Foundation, Inc. is a private coeducational college-preparatory middle and high school in West Palm Beach, Florida. Oxbridge Academy serves grades 7–12. Aimed at students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, the school has physic ...

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. He held that position until 2015 when his contract with the school expired. In 2016, Socha coached for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) as an offensive analyst. in 2017, Socha was hired as the first head football coach for Keiser. In the team's first varsity season in 2018, Socha led the team to a 6–4 record and third in the

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lou ...

's (MSC) Sun Division. From 2019 to 2021 he led the team to three-consecutive nine-win seasons and three-consecutive Sun Division championships. In 2019, the team went 9–1, made their first-ever appearance in the NAIA playoffs, and received a final ranking of nine in the NAIA poll. The following season, in 2020, he led the team to another 9–1 record including a trip to the NAIA semifinal and a final ranking of four. Despite the season being shortened to six weeks due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Socha's Seahawks had not lost a conference game since his first season. In 2021, the team went 9–3 and made it to the quarterfinal in the playoffs. Prior to the 2022 season, Keiser announced that it was transitioning conferences and would now compete in the

Sun Conference The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Seven of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia. The Sun Conference c ...

(TSC). In their first season, he led the team to a 9–4 record and a perfect 6–0 record in the conference. The team made their deepest playoff push in school history as they made it to the 2022 NAIA Football National Championship. They ultimately lost to Northwestern (IA) 35–25. The following year the team bounced back and finished with a program-best 12–2 record with their two losses coming against

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

teams. The team once again won TSC and made their second-straight NAIA Championship appearance. This time, they won and defeated Northwestern (IA) 31–21. After the season, Socha resigned and ended his tenure with a 54–15 record overall and five division or conference championships in six total seasons. In 2024, Socha was hired as the head football coach for Lenoir–Rhyne, an NCAA Division II program.

Head coaching record

College

High school

References

External links

Lenoir–Rhyne profile

Keiser profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socha, Doug Year of birth missing (living people) 1970s births Living people American football defensive backs Buffalo Bills coaches Buffalo Bulls football coaches College of the Canyons Cougars football coaches Colorado Mesa Mavericks football players Keiser Seahawks football coaches Los Angeles Valley Monarchs football players High school football coaches in Colorado High school football coaches in Florida California State University, Northridge alumni People from North Tonawanda, New York Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state)