David Lilly enters his first season as head coach of the UAB men’s soccer program in 2024, bringing a strong record of success at multiple collegiate levels. Lilly most recently served as head coach at East Tennessee State, where he compiled a 17-11-6 record over two seasons and led the Buccaneers to a Southern Conference regular-season championship in 2023 after a second-place finish in 2022. During that span, ETSU posted the best conference record in the league at 7-1-2 and ranked among national leaders in defensive performance, finishing 10th in the country in goals against average (0.755) in 2023. His teams also led the SoCon in both goals per game and goals against average, demonstrating a balanced and disciplined style of play.
Prior to ETSU, Lilly guided Milligan University to back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearances and achieved a program-high No. 9 national ranking in 2021, earning Appalachian Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2020. He also previously served as an assistant at ETSU during a period that included three NCAA Tournament appearances and two ASUN titles. A former NAIA All-American at Milligan, Lilly played professionally with the Carolina Railhawks and in the Premier Development League. A native of Coatbridge, Scotland, he holds degrees from Milligan and ETSU in business and sport management.
