NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion University has signed men’s soccer head coach Tennant McVea to a three-year contract extension, Athletics Director Dr. Wood Selig announced on Monday.
“Tennant McVea has done an exceptional job early in his tenure at ODU,” said Selig. “Our men’s soccer program is excelling in the classroom and continues to improve and compete with the nation’s elite programs in one of the country's most challenging soccer conferences, the Sun Belt Conference. Coach McVea has earned this contract extension, and we look forward to our future men’s soccer success under Tennant’s leadership.”
McVea is entering his third season with the Monarchs and has a record of 12-13-10. Last season he led Old Dominion to a 5-5-8 overall record. He spent seven seasons as Associate Head Coach under Alan Dawson, taking over at the end of the 2023 season. McVea returned to the staff in 2017 after spending a year at Elon as an assistant coach. He came back after being an integral part of the team from 2013-2015, notably helping the program win its first Conference USA Championship in 2014.
“I want to thank Dr. Selig and President Hemphill for the unwavering support of the work we are doing as a group,” said McVea. “Over the past two years we have been laying the foundation for the long-term success of the men’s soccer program. The staff and I are so excited to continue bringing high caliber young men to campus who understand what a privilege it is to pull on our jersey week in and week out.”
ODU finished the 2025 season with a .500-win percentage which ranked the second highest since the 2018 season where ODU went 11-5-2. This past season the Silver and Blue lost five games, it was the least number of losses ODU had suffered in a full season since 2018.
McVea helped sign a recruiting class that ranked 25th by Top Drawer Soccer going into the 2025 season with 16 players who made their way to Norfolk. Six freshmen joined in the class highlighted by Otu Bisong, a forward from Herndon, Virginia, who earned Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals against Coastal Carolina in ODU’s 2-1 victory. Lewis Rourke finished last season’s campaign with 10 goals and three assists for 23 points, a mark that was good enough to earn him All-Sun Belt Second Team. He was the first Monarch to earn All-Conference since Eliot Goldthorp earned All-C-USA Second Team in 2021.