After a highly successful tenure as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky University, Steve Bornhoffer was hired as the head coach of the Bellarmine University women’s soccer team in July of 2025.
Bornhoffer spent 14 seasons (2011-24) as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky and was on the ground floor of the Norse’s transition from the Great Lakes Valley Conference of Division II to the Atlantic Sun Conference of Division I, the same path Bellarmine took in its ascension to the NCAA’s highest level.
The bulk of Bornhoffer’s time with Northern Kentucky was spent in the Horizon League, where he helped guide the Norse to the 2016 conference tournament title — and first-ever appearance in the NCAA I Tournament — and the 2020 regular-season championship. NKU was a model of consistency with Bornhoffer on the sideline, earning a Horizon League Tournament berth in nine of the last 10 seasons while finishing third or higher in the league eight times.
Bornhoffer joined Northern Kentucky as an assistant in 2011 and helped the Norse go out with a bang in their final season in D2 as the team finished 16-2-2, captured the GLVC regular-season championship (12-1-1) and advanced to the Midwest Region finals of the NCAA II Tournament.
Bornhoffer then helped Northern Kentucky navigate the reclassification process as the Norse entered D1 in 2012 and subsequently spent three seasons in the ASUN, where they were competitive from the get-go with a pair of six-win seasons followed by a nine-win campaign and push to the conference tournament semifinals.
From the moment it entered the conference with Bornhoffer onboard, Northern Kentucky was among the Horizon League’s elite. An 11-win season — the program’s first in double digits in D1 — was produced in the Norse’s introductory year in the league in 2015. In the next, the Norse piled up 13 victories while securing a landmark Horizon League Tournament title, which represented the first D1 championship in school history. Four years later, in 2020, NKU went unbeaten (7-0-1) in Horizon League play en route to a regular-season championship.
In total in Bornhoffer’s tenure as an assistant at Northern Kentucky, the Norse went 129-95-28 overall and a combined 77-41-15 in conference play, including 57-25-12 in the Horizon League. NKU amassed 10 or more wins six times in that span, with at least eight victories in 10 of the last 11 years. The Norse registered six Horizon League wins or more in seven of 10 seasons (largely in a 9-10 game conference format).
Between the Horizon League and ASUN, Bornhoffer’s term with Northern Kentucky included an All-America accolade, nine All-Region honors, 10 postseason conference superlative awards, 28 All-Conference citations and 12 All-Freshman Team laurels. The Norse were showered with awards in their final D2 season (one All-American, Regional Player of the Year, GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, five All-Region honors, six All-GLVC accolades).
Bornhoffer preceded his stint at Northern Kentucky with eight seasons as the head coach of the Newport Central Catholic (Ky.) High School boys’ soccer team, where he was a two-time NKY Coach of the Year while posting a 90-52-17 record.
Bornhoffer was also a standout player at Northern Kentucky, starting all four years under Hall of Fame coach John Toebben and wrapping up his playing career in 1997 before serving as a graduate assistant coach for the NKU men. A team captain, he was twice named an All-Great Lakes Valley Conference and Academic All-GLVC honoree and was a recipient of the NKU Career Achievement Award in his senior year. He still ranks among the program’s all-time leaders in goals (37), points (87) and games played (83), and went on to play for the USL’s Cincinnati Riverhawks.
Bornhoffer earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education at Northern Kentucky. In addition to his high school and college background, he has over two decades worth of head-coaching experience in competitive club soccer.
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