Lebanon Valley College Athletics

Charlie Grimes has been the Head Coach of Lebanon Valley College's men's soccer team since 2005. He is LVC Men's Soccer's all-time winningest coach. Grimes has been on the coaching staff for the Flying Dutchmen since 2002, serving as an Assistant Coach for three seasons before his first year at the helm.

In his tenure as the Head Coach of the Dutchmen, Grimes holds a 206-149-35 overall record. He has led the program to the postseason 17 times, including two Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom Championship finals and three MAC Commonwealth Championship finals. Grimes also guided Lebanon Valley to Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championships in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, the Flying Dutchmen set the single-season program record for wins with an 18-4-0 overall record. Additionally, LVC has been nationally ranked multiple times during Grimes’ career, slotting as high as No. 6 in NCAA Division III in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Poll in early October 2023. 

Grimes has been recognized for his success as Lebanon Valley’s Head Coach, being named the Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year in 2008, the MAC Commonwealth Co-Coach of the Year in 2015, and the MAC Freedom Coach of the Year in 2023. The Dutchmen have also been presented with individual awards for their success under Grimes’ tutelage, including two USC All-America selections (Nathan Prex ’26 twice), 71 All-Conference honors, and 17 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/USC All-Region accolades. Additionally, the program has garnered two MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Year awards (Prex twice), and five players have been chosen as the conference Rookie of the Year (Justin Hutchinson ’10, Cam Alexander ’16, Aaron Weitzel ’25, Prex, Logan Hicks ’26). Grimes has also coached two players (Hutchinson and John Mentzer ’08) who have been inducted into the Lebanon Valley College Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Prex graduated with several program records, ranking first with 124 career points, 51 career goals, 48 points in a season (2025), and 21 goals in a season (2025). The forward also finished his career tied for the most goals in a game in LVC history, as he found the net four times in Lebanon Valley’s 5-2 victory at Misericordia University on Sept. 30, 2023. 

Grimes has mentored the academic achievement of several student-athletes, as 23 players have received CoSIDA/College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors since 2005. Dr. Nate Gibbons was named a two-time CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-America selection as well, earning a spot on the Third Team in 2016 and on the Second Team in 2017. Additionally, Lebanon Valley has been presented with the NSCAA/USC Team Academic Award 16 times. 

Grimes began his career at LVC as an Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach from 2002 to 2004 under Head Coach Mark Pulisic. During his time as an Assistant Coach at Lebanon Valley, Grimes helped coach the Flying Dutchmen to a 27-25-5 record. In 2002 and 2004, The Valley qualified for both the Commonwealth Conference and ECAC playoffs.

Grimes is a 1997 graduate of Elizabethtown College, where he was a star midfielder. A two-time All-MAC selection, he helped the Blue Jays win three MAC Championships and make four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. After graduating from Elizabethtown, Grimes played one year apiece with the Philadelphia Freedom (1997) and Reading Rage (1998) professional soccer teams, both of the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL). He helped the Freedom reach the U.S. Open Cup and was named team MVP.

Prior to his stint as an LVC Assistant Coach, Grimes served as the Head Boys Soccer Coach at his high school alma mater, Northern Lebanon, in 2000 and 2001. Grimes, who graduated with a bachelor’s in Elementary Education at Elizabethtown, was also a Sixth-Grade Teacher at Northern Lebanon from 1999 to 2005. Additionally, he received a master’s in Sports Management with a coaching emphasis from Millersville University in 2004, and he holds a USC Premier Coaching license.

At Northern Lebanon, the Jonestown, Pa., native was a four-sport athlete, competing in soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis, and was a league All-Star in all four sports. In soccer, Grimes scored 34 career goals, which was a school record at the time.

Grimes resides in Ono, Pa., with his wife, Jessica, son, Simon ’28, and daughter, Mira.