Luke Staats enters his third season as the Assistant Coach for Chowan University Men's Soccer. In the 2019 season, he helped lead the program to an 11-5-1 record, which earned the program the Conference Carolinas Regular Season Championship for the first time in its history. During his first season at Chowan, Staats was part of the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament finishing with an 11-4-2 overall record and a 7-3-0 mark in Conference Carolinas play. 

Staats joined Chowan after his tenure as the Development Director and Academy Coach for Albion SC San Diego; he was named Coach of the Year in 2017. During his time at Albion, Staats oversaw the expansion of the program to a second campus, supervised a team of coaches working with various age groups, and developed new recruitment strategies. Staats also played for Albion SC Pros, where he earned NPSL First Team honors. 

Prior to Albion, Staats was the Director of Coaching for the Pacific Storm FC for two seasons and the Varsity Coach at Linfield Christian High School.  At Linfield, Staats guided the team to their first appearance in the second round of the CIF State tournament.

Staats has played professionally in the Netherlands, for SV Spakenburg and FC Volendam, as a defender. He is still active as a player within a USL League Two summer league at Lionsbridge FC in Newport News, VA, where Christopher Whalley is the head coach.

Staats was a four-year member of the Men’s Soccer program under Coach Whalley at Lees-McRae College. During his playing career, Staats helped lead the team to three Conference Carolinas Regular Season and Tournament titles, four straight NCAA Appearances, two trips to the Division II Sweet 16, and a National Championship Finalist appearance. His efforts named him Conference Carolinas All-Conference three times, an All-Region selection, and an All-American.

Luke graduated with high honors from Lees-McRae College in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.