Following her second season with Racing Louisville FC, Head Coach Bev Yanez has won the 2025 NWSL Coach of the Year award.
“I’m shocked. I’m so grateful,” said Yanez. “I’m so grateful for the team believing in me, trusting in me. I couldn’t be up here without them. I couldn’t be up here with the staff that’s invested so much time and belief in the vision that we had this season. And my family, they’ve always believed in me and always told me to follow my dreams no matter what they were.”
Pathway from Player to Coach
Yanez led Racing during a key milestone in the club’s history as they finished in seventh place, which is the highest rank as it ultimately led them to their first playoff berth. Overall, Racing concluded the season with 10 wins, 37 league points, 36 goals scored, and five away victories.
With Racing’s historic milestone in the postseason, it also marked Yanez being the first person to reach the NWSL Playoffs as both a player and as a coach. Yanez spent her playing career with Seattle Reign FC where she learned from the winningest head coach, Laura Harvey.
She also served as an assistant head coach with Gotham FC from 2021-2022. In November 2023, it was announced that Yanez would become the head coach for Racing. With her success this season, she was also the first American female coach to make the postseason since 2013.
The other two finalists for the award were Adrián González of the Washington Spirit and Vlatko Andonovski of the Kansas City Current, who was also her coach during her time with the Reign.
At 37 years old, Yanez is not only the first former player to win the award but is also the first American coach. Previous winners include Seb Hines, Becki Tweed, Casey Stoney, and her former head coach, Laura Harvey.
Yanez’s Impact Over the Past Two Seasons
Last season, Yanez recorded her first win as a head coach with a 5-1 victory against the Utah Royals FC. The 5-1 scoreline marked the highest goals scored in Racing’s club history.
This season, Racing fought their way through the season and resulted in a 10-7-9 playing record (wins, draws, losses). One of their key wins came from a 2-0 victory at home against the reigning NWSL Champions, the Orlando Pride.
With a goal from Arin Wright in the first half to a penalty kick in the second, Racing secured a clean sheet win against a major competitor early on in the season.
Their most recent defeat came from the Washington Spirit as they looked to progress in the NWSL Playoffs. Racing made a comeback draw in the final minutes of stoppage time as a goal from Kayla Fisher allowed the club to officially draw 1-1.
Despite the extra playing time, Racing’s playoff fate ultimately went down to the wire through penalty kicks to end their postseason journey. Even through the loss, it showed Racing’s capabilities and creativity on the field as Yanez led the way for her club during a historic moment.
The NWSL End of the Year Awards was broken up into two rounds of voting. The preliminary round included voting nominations from players, owners, general managers, coaches and the media on individual awards to determine the finalists.
According to the NWSL, the preliminary round used a weighted scale, broken down by players (50%), owners, general mangers and coaches (25%) and media (25%).
Yanez won the final round of voting, which utilized a weighted scale of players (40%), owners, general mangers and coaches (25%), media (25%) and fans (10%).