STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is adding an impressive assistant to head coach Nick Zimmerman’s staff, securing the services of Jonathan Garbar from Florida International.
Garbar was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after the Panthers won both regular-season and tournament championships. He has also served as an assistant coach for the Puerto Rican national team.
“I’m privileged to join Nick Zimmerman and his impressive staff at one of the nation’s premier institutions, Mississippi State University,” Garbar said. “The level of growth and development that Nick and his program have earned is both familiar and inspirational. Having the opportunity to work and fight alongside a dynamic leader whose vision and ambitions align with your own is rare and something I am deeply grateful for. It is an honor to become a part of the Bulldog journey.”
Garbar has a decade of head coaching experience, including stints at Monroe College and Franklin Pierce before heading to FIU. He won the 2014 NJCAA national championship at Monroe, has multiple national Coach of the Year honors for Division II and NJCAA, and has accumulated more than 100 career wins.
In 2024, his Panthers team produced one of the most prolific seasons in program history, scoring 41 goals and conceding just 18 while finishing 13-5-2. The team also returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years, boasting the greatest RPI improvement in the country from his arrival in 2021 to his last season at the helm.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jonathan to the Mississippi State family,” Zimmerman said of Garbar. “He is a proven winner with an incredible passion for player development. His background in teaching makes him the perfect fit to continue our history of developing these young players, both on and off the field.”
Garbar brings significant recruiting experience, having close ties to Central and South America. He is also fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. He will be Zimmerman’s third assistant coach, joining Kat Stratton and Alyssa D’Aloise, both of whom worked with Zimmerman as assistants under former head coach James Armstrong.
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