Josh Nilson - Women's Gymnastics Coach

Photo by: Jackie Terpak

Josh Nilson

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
joshua.nilson@temple.edu
Phone:
215-204-1669

Josh Nilson, Temple gymnastics’ most decorated head coach, has led the Owls since July 2018.

Nilson has put Temple on the map nationally, leading the squad to back-to-back-to-back conference championships from 2019-21, in his first three seasons with the Cherry and White.

The 2022 Owls had arguably the most prolific season in school history with six of the top 12 scores all-time. On Feb. 25, Nilson's squad broke the all-time team score record with a 196.675 at No. 29 NC State. The Owls would go onto to reach a 196 or better score one other time in 2022. During the early session of the 2022 EAGL Championship, the Owls would be on top with the fourth-highest score in school history with a 196.025. Their score would not hold up though, and finished in third-place overall behind George Washington and Towson.

To end the 2022 season, Temple would rank No. 45 in the NQS rankings with a 195.770. The Cherry and White had top 35 NQS rankings on the vault (49.085 - 29th) and floor (49.100 - 35th). Temple set team records on the vault at NC State on Feb. 25 with a 49.200, on the beam on March 6 during Senior Day with a 49.325, and also tied the school record on the floor with a 49.375 on two separate occasions including at Towson on Feb. 4 and on Senior Day on March 6.

Individually, Nilson led Julianna Roland (vault) and Brooke Donabedian (floor) to the NCAA Raleigh Regional. On Feb. 25 at NC State, Roland broke Adrienne Carver's previous school record with a 9.925 score. Roland earned 9.8s or better on nine occasions. Donabedian also made history with her first-ever regional appearance. Donabedian was a key contributor to the Owls tying the school record on the floor as she turned in record-tying performance. The sophomore tied Anne Koerner's record with a 9.950.

Six Owls earned nine All-EAGL awards in 2022, Seniors Ariana Castrence and Roland and freshman Hannah Stallings led the Owls team with a pair All-EAGL honors. Both Castrence and Roland earned first-team selections on the vault and second-team selections on the beam, while Stallings added a first-team selection in the all-around and a second-team selection on the beam. Fifth-year gymnasts Faith Leary and Tori Edwards with sophomore Donabedian earned selections on the floor. Edwards and Donabedian earned first-team selections, while Leary added a second-team honor.

Nilson's squad came away with 10 on the 2022 All-EAGL Tournament, including four on the first team and six on the second team. Roland (vault), Sarah Stallings (bar) Castrence (beam), Donabedian (floor) all came away with first team honors, Donabedian (beam), Hannah Stallings(beam), Roland (beam, floor), Edwards (floor), and Renee Schugman (floor). At the conclusion of the tournament, Roland was honored with her work in the classroom with the 2022 EAGL Scholar Athlete of the Year and Castrence picked up the Senior of the Year.

Under Nilson’s leadership, Temple gymnastics reached new heights in 2021, breaking Owl program records in nearly every category. Competing as a member of the EAGL for the first time in program history, Temple made the most of its debut, capturing the 2021 EAGL Championship in an upset. The Owls recorded a huge 196.500 at the championship meet, shattering the previous best program record of 196.050. For his efforts, Nilson was named the 2021 WCGA Northeast Region Coach of the Year.

The Owls finished the regular season ranked 30th overall in the NCAA with a program record NQS of 195.963. Temple set program records for NQS on every event in 2021, led by a No.22 national ranking on floor with an NQS of 49.300. Temple earned a team spot at the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1994. Though the team had to withdraw due to Covid-19 protocols, the bid was the first ever for Temple since bids were decided by national rank.

Three Temple student-athletes earned NCAA selections as individuals in 2021, junior Ariana Castrence in the all-around, junior Faith Leary on floor, and Julianna Roland on both vault and floor. Leary finished third on floor at the NCAA Regional Semifinals, recording a 9.900 and setting a Temple program record for both the highest finish and highest score for an Owl in an NCAA competition.

In team competition, Temple put up eight scores in the top-25 in program history, including three in the top-five on the Owls’ all-time list. At the EAGL Championships, the Cherry & White were on fire. In addition to the program record team score of 196.500, the team set a new Temple floor record of 49.375 and tied the program’s all-time beam record of 49.225.

Heading into the 2021 season, Temple had just 24 total scores of 9.900 or better in program history. This season, Owl gymnasts combined for nine scores of 9.900, two on vault, two on beam, and five on floor. Individually, Roland tied Temple’s all-time vault record, recording a 9.900 on February 14 at Pitt. Roland tied her team record later in the season, going 9.900 again on vault, this time at the EAGL Championships. Castrence broke her own Temple record in the All-Around, going 39.350 at Temple’s home meet on March 5, 2021.

Temple gymnasts and coaches were well-represented during the 2021 awards season. The Owls garnered 13 All-EAGL regular season honors split among seven gymnasts and also picked up 15 EAGL All-Tournament selections, earned by a total of 10 different Temple gymnasts.

In his second season at the helm of the program in 2020, Nilson led the Owls to yet another historic campaign. Although season was cut short with one competition left in the regular season due to COVID-19, Temple was named ECAC Champions for the second year in a row, as the team held the highest overall NQS in the conference. Nilson was also named ECAC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, while four gymnasts earned major conference awards (Castrence: Athlete of the Year, Madison Brooks: Co-Rookie of the Year, Jordyn Oster: Co-Specialist of the Year, Jaylene Everett: Scholar-Athlete of the Year).

In addition to leading the ECAC in overall NQS, the Cherry and White were ranked first as a team in the ECAC on vault, bars and floor and held the second spot on beam at the end of the season. A Temple gymnast led the ECAC in each event category (Castrence: vault, floor, AA, Jazmyn Estrella: bars, Delaney Garin: beam). The Temple squad posted five scores of 194 and above and three of 195 and above in shortened season.

The team’s 2020 campaign featured numerous impressive individual and team performances, many of which earned places in the record books. Castrence broke the program’s all-around record with a 39.275 and Estrella broke the bars record with a 9.95, which was the highest score by a Temple gymnast on any event since 2002. The team set a new vault record with a 49.15 and recorded the fifth-highest vault score in school history (48.975). On bars, the squad posted the second-best (49.3) and fifth-best (49.025) scores ever. The Cherry and White also set the program’s second-highest beam score (49.1) and fifth-highest floor score (49.1). As a team, the Owls scored the third (195.575, fifth (195.075) and sixth (195.000) highest overall scores in Temple history.

Seven Owls combined for 18 spots on All-ECAC teams and 12 gymnasts were named to the ECAC All-Academic team. The squad earned a 3.58 GPA in fall 2019, which is the program’s highest semester GPA on record.

Nilson made program history in his first year leading the Cherry and White, as he led the team to its first ever ECAC Championship title in 2019. Nilson was named the ECAC Coach of the Year, assistant Rachel Inniss earned ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year and three gymnasts took home ECAC Yearly Awards (Ariana Castrence- Rookie of the Year, Monica Servidio- Co-Gymnast of the Year and India Anderson- Specialist of the Year). Monica Servidio broke the program's all-around record and the beam lineup at ECACs reset the team's beam record.

The Owls posted ten scores of 194 and above in 2019, including two of 195 and above. Last year, the team had eight scores above 194. It tallied three in 2017 and a total of 11 in the previous 19 seasons combined. Six Owls combined for 15 spots on All-ECAC teams and 11 earned places on the All-Academic team.

The team sent three individual gymnasts (Servidio- Beam, Ariana Castrence- Vault, India Anderson- Floor) to the NCAA Athens Regional, tying the most Temple has ever had qualify for the event. Servidio was the program’s first ever qualifier on beam and Anderson was the first qualifier on floor.

On the academic front, the team boasts a 990 multiyear APR and earned a 3.54 GPA in fall 2018. This was the second-highest semester GPA in the past 10 years.

During the 2017-18 season at Air Force, Nilson helped guide the Falcons to their highest conference finish in six years, and their highest USAG Collegiate Nationals finish in seven years. In 2016, Nilson started as the first assistant coach at Penn State before serving as the co-interim head coach in his final months before heading to Air Force.

While Nilson was with the Nittany Lions as co-interim head coach, they saw a jump from 45th in the nation to 31st in the final four competitions of the year, while qualifying two all-around competitors to the NCAA Championships. He was also nominated for Northeast Regional Co-Head Coach of the Year honors. Additionally, Nilson served as the recruiting coordinator for Penn State, while also working to schedule future competitions. He was the team's primary coach on both uneven bars and vault, in addition to being the main spotter on all four events.

From 2013-16, Nilson was the first assistant coach at Utah State and the head coach for vault and uneven bars. The Aggies advanced to the NCAA Regional Championships for the third consecutive season in 2016 and finished the regular season with an average of 48.833 on the uneven bars, which ranked 28th in the nation. In the Utah State record books, the season average of 48.833 ranks second-best in school history and was the highest average in 13 years.

The 2015 season was a banner year for the Aggies as they made their second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Regional Championships. The Aggies re-wrote the record books that year, recording two of the top four team scores, setting three of the top 10 vault scores and tallying a program-best season average of 48.938 on the vault. For his efforts during the 2015 season, Nilson earned North Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors for the second straight year.

Nilson spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Texas Women's University from 2011-13, and was named the 2012 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Assistant of the Year and Midwest Independent Conference Assistant Coach of the Year after coaching the Pioneers' bars team to a 48.440 season average. On an individual level, he coached one student-athlete to the 2012 USAG Collegiate national title on bars.

During his time as an undergraduate at Utah State, Nilson was a student coach for women's gymnastics from 2005-08. He then spent three years as the second assistant coach before heading to Texas and returning to Utah in 2013. Nilson graduated from Utah State with a bachelor's degree in law and constitutional studies and a minor in family finance in 2010.

Nilson, a native of Cache Valley, Utah, is married to the former Amanda Corn. The couple has five sons, Tristan, Ezekiel, Remington, Liam and Asher.