Coach Tracey Fuchs has agreed to a long-term contract extension, Athletic Director Mark Jackson announced Tuesday.
The three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year led Northwestern to a 23-1 record last season, capping off a dominant campaign with a commanding 5-0 national championship victory over Saint Joseph’s in November.
During her 16 seasons in Evanston, Fuchs has transformed NU’s field hockey program into a juggernaut, leading the Wildcats to the last four consecutive NCAA championship games and winning two national titles.
“As one of the best players to ever play the sport, Tracey was referred to as ‘The Michael Jordan of Field Hockey,’ and rightly so,” Jackson said in the press release. “As a head coach, Tracey Fuchs is simply ‘The Tracey Fuchs of Head Coaches.’”
The winningest head coach in NU field hockey history boasts three Big Ten regular season titles, two Big Ten Tournament championships and eight NCAA tournament appearances. She’s posted a winning record in 15 of 16 seasons.
Details of the extension were not made immediately available, but Jackson said in the release that “(Northwestern Athletics) could have no other way for Tracey to finish her career than as a Northwestern Wildcat and we are beyond excited to make this commitment.”
Last summer, Fuchs journeyed with two of her players — sophomore forward Ashley Sessa and senior midfielder Maddie Zimmer — to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, where she was an assistant coach for Team USA.
Once she returned to the shores of Lake Michigan, her squad set a single-season wins record, saw the best start to a season in program history and featured the NFHCA’s National Player of the Year, Zimmer.
“I am incredibly grateful to Northwestern Athletics, and especially to Athletic Director Mark Jackson, for the University’s strong commitment to and support of our field hockey program and women’s athletics as a whole,” Fuchs said in the release. “I am honored to work with the most talented student-athletes in Division I field hockey, and I couldn’t be more proud to lead this team as we press forward to vie for more championships.”
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