David Kulik became the head men’s soccer coach at Johnson & Wales University in April of 2012. In his first eight seasons at JWU, the team has posted a 112-36-20 record, has won four GNAC tournament championships and three regular-season championships. This eight-year run of success comes on the heels of the program posting a 16-54-4 record in the four seasons prior to his arrival. Under Kulik, the Wildcats have posted an impressive 59-7-13 mark at the Scotts Miracle Grow Complex since it opened in 2013. 2019 was marked with coaching milestones as Kulik reached 100 wins at his second university and 200 overall and now sits with a career record of 215-121-43.
Kulik was named 2019 GNAC Coach of the year which followed his 2014 selection and in 2005 and 2008 he had earned the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Coach of the Year accolades. He left Clark as the school’s all-time leader in wins and served on numerous regional and national committees. Kulik was a four-year member of the Division III National Soccer Committee from 2008-2011 and served as the national chair of the NCAA Division III Men’s National Soccer Committee in 2010.
An accomplished player in his own right, Kulik was an NSCAA, Adidas, and Parade High School All-American, played in the ESPN aired first national high school All-America match at West Point and was a four-year standout at Yale University. He holds the distinction of being the first Yale men’s soccer player in the program’s history to start each game of their four-year career. He graduated from Yale having earned All-Ivy and All-New England accolades each of his four years and captained the team in his senior year and was part of an Ivy League championship for Yale in 1986 after a 30-year wait for the program.
During his college career, he was the recipient of the Walter J McNerney Award as the team’s most valuable player and earned the Walter Leeman Senior Leadership Trophy as the player who upholds the ideals of Leeman through sportsmanship and team play. After Yale, he played professionally for the Boston Bolts and the Miami Freedom, competing in the American Soccer League championship in 1989 against the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. In his first professional season, Kulik was named the team’s hardest-working player.
Also active in the club soccer community, Kulik has led his squads to numerous league titles, state championships, and trips to regional, national and international tournaments with FC Greater Boston Bolts and Bruno United. Outside of his college and club coaching experience Kulik coached for one year at the St. John’s School in San Juan Puerto Rico and for one year at Central High School in San Angelo TX.. leading the team to a school-record 17 win season being named the district coach of the year.
Kulik holds the United States Soccer Federation “A” license and the NSCAA Advanced National Diploma. A 1988 graduate of Yale University with a degree in sociology/economics, he obtained an advanced degree in psychology from Tufts University in 1992. Kulik resides in Natick, Ma. He has a daughter, Sidnie, who is 17 who attends the Noble and Greenough School and is a Track team captain.
