10/29/2026
HUGE!!!!
Welcome back Coach Connor!!!
By Jon Johnson
Dothan United has turned to a familiar face in Connor McGoldrick to lead the United Soccer League Two franchise as the new head coach, team officials have announced.
McGoldrick served as an assistant coach last season under Ricky Davey, who was promoted to the role of sporting director of the club earlier this week after serving as head coach for a year.
Dothan United team president and co-owner Steve Donner said the familiarity with McGoldrick was a big factor in the hire.
“We’re a family, so we made this move to try to keep as much of our family intact as possible,” Donner said. “Number one, he is so close to Ricky and they think so similarly. When you’re talking to either one of them, I think you’re talking almost to the same ideology and values.
“Connor came in as an assistant and did whatever was asked of him and he was always looking well beyond just the field. He really embraced the organization with what we were doing in the community as well.”
It will be the first head coaching job for McGoldrick, who is currently in his third year as an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team at Le Moyne College in upstate New York.
McGoldrick will be the third head coach for Dothan United going into its fourth year of operation. Carl Reynolds was the head coach of the Dragons for the first two years before being hired as associate head men’s soccer coach at Liberty University.
Last season, McGoldrick served as an interim head coach for the Dragons for two games - both wins - while Davey was on a family trip that had been planned before signing a contract with Dothan United.
“It was a lot of pressure,” Donner said of McGoldrick being the interim coach. “We were winning at the time and he did not wilt under that. He also did not come in and try to take Ricky’s place, basically. He came in and played the role he had to play, and you could tell it was with confidence.
“The other coaches fell in line as well. He was showing a lot of things that you want to see in a coach that you want to have around for a while.”
Having the combination of Davey and McGoldrick working together once again made the decision rather easy.
“Knowing that Ricky has the ultimate confidence in him as well and we were able to keep Ricky part of the package, really sold it,” Donner said. “If Connor was going to be totally solo, I think we would have still possibly made the move as new head coach. But having them together with Ricky helping with recruiting and how well they see the vision for what they want together made it real easy.”
Last season, Davey led Dothan United to a 9-2-2 record and South Central Division title in the Southern Conference.
During the same week in July when Dothan United hosted a first round playoff game, Davey was offered and accepted the position as new head men’s soccer coach at Campbell (N.C.) University.
Instead of Davey trying to handle both roles of being head coach of Campbell during the fall college season and Dothan United during the spring/summer USL2 season, the decision was made to create a new position for Davey as sporting director and promote McGoldrick to head coach.
Davey will work with McGoldrick in recruiting players, putting a staff together and game planning among other duties.
Donner said McGoldrick was well prepared during the interview process for the head coach position.
“We talked about recruiting, we talked about what our needs were that we didn’t have to help us get a national championship last year,” Donner said. “He was very well prepared for those questions and had immediate thoughts on what we could do to improve.
“His love of the organization and wanting to play whatever role he was assigned to us made it real easy for us to make the decision, quite honestly.”
Dothan United general manager Aaron McCreight said McGoldrick was the only person Davey put forward for the opening.
“He thought Connor was ready for the job,” McCreight said. “We saw it firsthand here for about 10 days when he was the interim … he did coach two games and won both. We’ve seen him on the field, we’ve seen him in training, we’ve seen him at practice.
“He’s a great human being first of all. He’s the right personality for what we’re looking for. He has the standard, which is important to us, because we have a standard and it matches us. He is very structured, he’s vocal and he has the right mindset and the right personality.
“He wants to win more than anything in the world, and that’s what we’re looking for here. Yes, it’s a developmental league, yes we want these players to go onto bigger and better things, but we also want to win and that is his number one goal.
“He didn’t get it just because he was here. He earned this promotion. We truly believe in his abilities and him as a person to carry this torch forward.”
McCreight said consistency within the organization was important in making the decision.
“We like seeing the same people come back year after year,” McCreight said. “We’ve done a great job of that with players. Players come here and they don’t want to leave, which is great, but it would also be nice to have the same coaching staff as long as we can.
“I think having Ricky and Connor back for this year really helps with recruiting as well. They’re coming off their first season here and know what it takes to win in this league; they know what it takes to win in this division.
“They know the type of player they want to have to play here … the right type of personality, the right type of athlete we need to win in this division. They know what type of players we need to bring in to ultimately win the big trophy at the end of the year.
“This will be Connor’s first official head coaching job, but we feel like he’s up for the task or we wouldn’t have gone down this road. It’s a great transition for us to elevate Ricky and also elevate Connor. They spent all of last season with each other and know each other’s ins and outs.
“They made a great team last season and there’s no reason to think they won’t going forward.”
