A five-time New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Coach of the Year and a previous National Coach of the Year recipient, Tufts University's Martha Whiting finished her 25th season in 2023 as head coach of the Jumbos after starting at Tufts in 1999. A legendary coach in the Northeast, Whiting has won over 62 percent of her games as head coach at Tufts, while making numerous appearances in the NCAA Tournament including a national title match appearance in 2000. Whiting is also the Director of Compliance at Tufts and is part of the Tufts athletics administration.
Over her 25 seasons, Whiting has gone 230-126-48 at Tufts (.629) as head coach, after serving six seasons as an assistant after her graduation from Tufts back in 1993 following a stellar career as a Jumbo as a goalkeeper. The program is also very involved in community service under Coach Whiting. The Jumbos have drafted two "teammates" through Team IMPACT, the non-profit organization which works to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses by pairing them with collegiate athletic teams. During the coronavirus pandemic, recent graduate Hannah Isenhart co-organized an EA Sports FIFA tournament which benefited family homelessness.
Óli Gunnarsson is in his seventh season as an assistant on the Jumbo women's soccer team's staff. After three years as the Tufts goaltending coach, he continues in that role while also assuming other responsibilities as an assistant for the program.
The director of the New England Goalkeeper Academy, Gunnarsson has over a decade of goalkeeper coaching experience. A native of Iceland, Gunnarsson has 20 years of experience as a goalkeeper for some of Iceland's best professional clubs as well as the country's youth and senior national teams. While in the U.S., he was an All-American all three years of his college career at Flagler College and he was later inducted into the Flagler College Athletic Hall of Fame. He also played as a pro in the American Soccer League.
In 2018, Gunnarsson coached Tufts' All-Region and All-Conference goalkeeper Emily Bowers in her senior year. Then in 2019 he worked with freshman Hayley Bernstein whose eight shutouts led the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Tufts advanced to the NCAA “Sweet 16” that year and finished with the program’s most wins since 2005 at 14–4–2 overall. Gunnarsson and the rest of the Jumbo coaches were honored as United Soccer Coaches Regional Staff of the Year.
Coach Gunnarsson is USSF Certified, has the Advanced National Goalkeeper Diploma from United Soccer Coaches and is currently completing his UEFA B License as well as his KSI (Icelandic soccer federation) Goalkeeping License.
Smith will enter her 10th season at the helm for the Cougars in the fall of 2024, leading the program turnaround since coming back to her alma mater in 2014.
After winning just 4 games in her first two seasons the Cougars have combined for 18 wins in the last two seasons and qualified for the NEWMAC Championship Tournament in 2017. This past fall of 2018, Macy Golman, a member of Smith’s first recruiting class, was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region third team. She becomes the first Clark player to earn this recognition since 2005.
Prior to arrival at Clark, Smith spent four years as the head women's coach at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa. where she guided the Greyhounds to four straight Landmark Conference tournament appearances, including a berth in the championship game in 2012. During that 2012 season, Smith was named Landmark Coach of the Year, while two of her student-athletes garnered the league's offensive and defensive player of the year awards, respectively. Her program saw eight student-athletes earn a combined 13 all-conference citations during her tenure, including six first-team selections.
Prior to Moravian, Smith spent nine years as an assistant coach at Tufts University. During her time with the Jumbos, Smith helped lead them to three NCAA Tournament berths, including a trip to the Final Four in 2005 and more than 80 victories.
Smith was a four-year letter winner with the Cougars appearing in 68 of 76 games from 1997-00. She was part of the 1998 team that won a school-record 17 games and garnered the school's lone NCAA Tournament bid. A 2001 Clark University graduate with a degree in psychology and a minor in education, Smith also holds a master's degree in physical education from Bridgewater State and an Advanced National Diploma from the United Soccer Coaches.
Taylor Dempsey enters her first season as an assistant coach with the women’s soccer team at Tufts in the summer of 2023. Dempsey comes to Tufts after serving as an assistant coach at The College of Holy Cross in 2022.
She spent the 2021 season as the head women’s soccer coach and a sports management professor at Eastern Nazarene College. She coached four All-Conference recipients, a Goalkeeper of the Year and an All-Sportsmanship award winner. The year prior to that, Dempsey was the Athletic Director and girls varsity soccer coach for the Covenant Christian Academy, where she aided in adding four new varsity sports programs, including cross country, track & field, rowing and volleyball.
Coaching runs through her veins, as she was the assistant women’s soccer coach at Bentley University during the 2018-19 season. She coached four All NE10 Academic All-Conference, four All-New England, and two CoSIDA All-District 1 athletes. At the same time, she was the Director of Marketing or the FC Stars Soccer Club from 2018-20.
Prior to her time at Bentley, she was the Youth Soccer Director and Assistant Director of Marketing at Danvers Indoor Sports in 2017-18. Dempsey also, spent two years with Misericordia University in 2015-17 as the assistant women’s soccer coach and recruiting coordinator. She helped lead her team to two NCAA Tournament appearances, a 32-8-2 cumulative record and 14-0 in conference record, while also leading a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, two Offensive Players of the Year.
Dempsey graduated from Gordon College with a Bachelor of Science in recreation, sport and wellness in May of 2014. She was named Rookie of the Year in 2012, team captain in 2014, a three-time All-Conference athlete from 2012-14, and All-New England in 2013-14. Dempsey continued her education at Misericordia, where she graduated with her Master of Science in organizational management in 2017.
Her professional career took her all the way to Miami, where she was a member of the Women’s Premier Soccer League with the FC Surge in 2014.
Ilana finished her second season on the Jumbos soccer staff in 2023. Ilana played for Williams College from 2017-2020. She was a standout midfielder on an Ephs team that won two NCAA Titles. She is also coaches a local club team.