CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois women's gymnastics head coach Nadalie Walsh has added her former Utah State assistant coach Josh Nilson to the 2023-24 coaching staff. Nilson will serve as associate head coach for the Fighting Illini after spending the last five years as head coach at Temple University.

"I'm very excited to welcome Josh to Illinois," Walsh said. "We have a great history working together during our time at Utah State, and he has gone on to have great success in leading his own program over the last five years. I'm thrilled to be able to add such a quality, experienced coach.

"Josh is a great coach who has always been extremely technical," continued Walsh. "Beyond his technical prowess, he is a very encouraging person; his style fits with my coaching philosophy and what I believe is the proper way to develop and mentor student-athletes. In addition, Josh is an extremely aggressive recruiter. He reaches high for the best recruits, and that will be a great asset to our program. But one of the greatest advantages to adding Josh will be the seamless transition. We know each other and have coached together for three seasons. I'm excited about the experience that Josh gained from his time at Temple, and I believe his addition will make our staff even more dynamic." 

While at Temple, Nilson led the Owls to three-straight conference titles – the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship in 2019 and 2020 and the East Atlantic Gymnastics League championship in 2021.

Temple qualified for NCAA Regionals in 2021 for the first time in 29 years, and achieved its highest ranking in program history at No. 30. For his efforts, Nilson was named 2021 Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association. 

The Cache Valley, Utah, native led his squad to multiple broken records over the last two seasons – including an all-time team score record (196.675) and beam record (49.325) in 2022, as well as vault (49.250) and floor (49.400) records in 2023.

Nilson has also led a total of eight gymnasts to qualify individually for the NCAA Regionals throughout his career.

Walsh and Nilson worked together at Utah State for three seasons where they guided the Aggies to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

"I am excited for the opportunity to join head coach Nadalie Walsh and the Fighting Illini," Nilson said. "I've worked with her before, and we make a great team! After the interview process and seeing campus, I realized how special this university is! I am anxious to get to work and help Coach Walsh achieve an even higher level of competitive success."

Nilson graduated from Utah State in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in law and constitutional studies with a minor in family science. He and his wife Amanda have five sons, Tristan, Ezekiel, Remington, Liam and Asher.