Release Courtesy of Central Michigan Athletic Communications
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — James DeCosemo (pronounced "de-coz-uh-mo") has been named the seventh head women's soccer coach at Central Michigan University, Zyzelewski Family Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan announced on Wednesday morning.
"We believe that James is a leader that can help us achieve success in the Mid-American Conference," Folan said. "He is a players' coach who has had success everywhere he's been. He has operated at many levels to give him the skills and ability to lead our program. He understands our footprint and has worked in the soccer community within the state of Michigan from being a student-athlete to a head coach.
DeCosemo has an extensive background in collegiate coaching across multiple levels, all in the state of Michigan. The Stokesley, England-native logged three dominant years at the helm for Aquinas College, where he posted a 55-5-7 overall record, an undefeated 31-0-3 record in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference, and five total WHAC Championships—three regular season, two tournament.
He was most recently an assistant coach at Western Michigan, which swept the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2025. He has also been an assistant coach for the Aquinas men (2019-21) and the Saginaw Valley State women (2017-18).
"I cannot thank Amy Folan and Zach Lowe enough for their vision for the program, their trust in me, and for this amazing opportunity at Central Michigan," DeCosemo said. "I'm excited to get started and I'm looking forward to the challenge. We have an unbelievable soccer facility that is attractive to high-level players, the university is moving in an exciting direction, the athletic department is full of supportive people, and Mount Pleasant is a great community. There are many factors that make it easy to attract good soccer players to CMU: the school, league, support, and facilities, it's all here."
"My connection to the local market should mean that we can bring in impactful players immediately. Our goal is to build Central Michigan into a destination for Michigan players that want to play high-level soccer. I am lucky enough to know a lot of people in youth soccer and will use those connections to help build a high-level soccer program here at Central Michigan."
As a player, DeCosemo was a three-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion at Northwood University, where he earned all-conference and United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors and led the Timberwolves to the NCAA Midwest Regional Final (round of 16) in his 2015 senior season.
The 2016 graduate of Northwood played for Lansing United from 2014-17, then again when the team was reprised from 2022-25 for eight total seasons of semi-professional competition in the Lansing area. In the meantime, he played for Grand Rapids FC.
He has also been the Director of Coaching for Nationals Capital Area Soccer club in Lansing since 2016.
DeCosemo's leadership at Aquinas led to the program's best finish in the NAIA national tournament as the Saints reached the national quarterfinals in both 2022 and 2023. Aquinas defeated eight nationally ranked teams during his tenure, four times doing so in the NAIA tournament.
The Saints racked up 10 NAIA All-America nods as well as 25 all-conference selections, 19 of which were first team. Aquinas appeared in the NAIA national rankings wire-to-wire in his tenure and was a top-10 mainstay for the 2023 and 2024 campaigns.
DeCosemo will be introduced to the campus community at a time to be determined.
THE DECOSEMO FILE
Birthdate: Nov. 19, 1992
Hometown: Stokesley, England (H.S.)
Family: Allison (Wife), Oliver (Son)
Education
Northwood University '16
Bachelor's degree, Business Administration/Marketing
Collegiate Coaching Career (Women's unless otherwise denoted)
Head Coach, Central Michigan University, Dec. 10, 2025-current
Assistant Coach, Western Michigan University, July 2025-Dec. 9, 2025
Head Coach, Aquinas College, July 2022-July 2025
Assistant Coach, Aquinas College (men), Aug. 2019-July 2022
Assistant Coach, Saginaw Valley State, July 2017-Aug. 2019
Other Coaching Positions
Director of Coaching, Nationals Capital Area, 2016-current
Playing Career
Lansing United, 2014-17, 2022-25
Grand Rapids FC, 2019-21
Northwood University, 2012-15
Coaching Accomplishments
55-5-7 overall record in three seasons at Aquinas (MI)
Five Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships (three regular season, two tournament)
Ranked 17th or higher in NAIA national poll for entire tenure, top 10 all of 2023 and 2024 seasons, high of 4th
10 NAIA All-American selections
25 All-WHAC selections (19 first team)
2025 Mid-American Conference Season and Tournament Champion (as assistant)
