Deep down, the new head women’s soccer coach at the University of Illinois thinks she always had an inkling her future lied in leading a team, “but I had to dabble in the real world to truly know that I was meant to coach collegiately for a living,” Katie Hultin says.
Which explains how the three-time all-Pac-10 goalkeeper for the Washington State Cougars found herself working as a district sales manager at Frito Lay after her soccer-playing days ended.
“I loved the physical labor, but I didn’t love driving the trucks through the big city of Seattle,” she says.
A coaching career that started as an assistant at Seattle University in 2009 — and included stops at Illinois, Oregon and Michigan and a three-year run as head coach at Grand Valley State — hit a new high point in December 2024 when Hultin returned to Champaign, where she was introduced as the successor to the retiring Janet Rayfield.
“During our conversations, Katie has shown herself to be a world-class competitor, a teacher and a developer of people,” Illini Athletic Director Josh Whitman said of the Denver native, who went 45-7-19 at Grand Valley State.
Hultin, wife Susan and their three children — twin boys Owen and Wilder and daughter Scotty — are in the process of relocating to Champaign from Rockford, Mich.
In January 2025, the coach took part in News-Gazette Editor Jeff D’Alessio's Beyond the Boardroom feature, spotlighting leaders of local organizations big and small.
My professional role model is ... Jurgen Klopp, former manager of Liverpool. He is competitive, yet he cares deeply for his team and sees them as people first.
Their mantra is “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” which I truly connect with as a coach and a person.
The hardest thing about being a leader is … it can be lonely if you let it be.
My philosophy on meetings is … have an agenda, keep them short and to the point, don’t meet unnecessarily. Include everyone and be sure to set the ground rules at the beginning of the meeting.
I can’t live without my … family, friends and CrossFit.
My single favorite moment of all-time in coaching was … seeing the faces of my athletes after they have seen their hard work and commitment pay off when they are holding up the trophy.
The three adjectives I hope my staff would use to describe me are … competitive, compassionate and hard-working.
On my office walls, you’ll find … pictures of my family, pictures of my former teams holding their trophies and eventually our team values.
I’m frugal in that … I only buy things when they are on sale.
As for the one person in town I wouldn’t mind trading places with for a week … I don’t know many people in town yet, but I would love to trade places with someone who runs the emergency department at the hospital. Fast pace, high pressure.
My one unbreakable rule of the workplace is … clear is kind. Be a clear communicator and assume the best in others.
The single-most important question I ask job candidates during interviews is … what drives you to do what you do?
The first thing I do when I get to work most days is … say hi to everyone I see and check in on how they are doing.
For lunch … I tend to work right through lunch. Sometimes, I will bring something in to eat while I work.
I wind down after work by … hanging out with my family.
The most beneficial college class I took was … my anatomy/physiology class at Washington State University. It taught me so much, but it was so easy to learn because the professor was amazing.
The last good book I read was … “Iron Flame,” by Rebecca Yarros. I am currently reading “The Infinite Game,” by Simon Sinek.
I’m up and at ’em every day by ... 4:45 a.m.
For exercise … I had to take a bit of a break over the last month, but I usually hit CrossFit about four to five times a week. I am excited to find my new CrossFit gym in Champaign.
When it comes to the last luxury in which I indulged ... between our jobs and three kids, we don’t get to indulge much. However, my wife and I did go out to a nice meal and saw “Mamma Mia!” off Broadway a couple of months ago.
