Cayden Hotaling enters his second season as an assistant coach with the UC Davis men's soccer program in 2026, the Aggies' first as a member of the Mountain West Conference.
Hotaling joined head coach Dwayne Shaffer's staff ahead of the 2025 campaign and helped guide the Aggies to the Big West Tournament semifinals in the program's final season of league membership. UC Davis went 4-3-2 in conference play and advanced past Cal State Fullerton on penalty kicks (5-4) in the quarterfinal round, while four Aggies earned all-conference recognition, with Cason Goodman and Luke Goodman named to the All-Big West First Team, Zack Lillington taking second-team honors and Nami Banks landing on the All-Freshman Team.
"Cayden is a soccer enthusiast with a strong desire to coach the game at a high level," said Shaffer upon Hotaling's hiring. "He has a recent playing background at a traditionally top-ranked program in college soccer, Chico State, where he started as a central midfielder during his four-year career. While at Chico State, he played for former UC Davis soccer player Felipe Restrepo, which helped him develop some excellent coaching ideas to bring to our program. He is energetic about perfecting his coaching craft and will be an excellent addition to our staff."
Hotaling arrived on staff following a four-year playing career at Chico State, one of college soccer's traditionally top-ranked programs, where he started 70 of his 73 appearances at central midfielder from 2021-24. A fixture in the Wildcat lineup who started every match over his final three seasons, he scored both of his career goals in 2022 while helping Chico State post a 0.75 goals-against average that ranked second in the CCAA, and he was part of the Wildcat side that reached the NCAA Division II West Regional in 2023. With the Wildcats, he played under head coach Felipe Restrepo, a former UC Davis midfielder who spent seven seasons as an Aggie assistant before taking over at Chico State in 2008.
Coaching has brought Hotaling home. A Davis native, he graduated from Davis Senior High School in 2020 after earning two varsity letters, first-team All-Delta League honors and team MVP recognition as a senior.
A second-generation member of the Aggie sideline, Hotaling is the son of associate head coach Jason Hotaling and his wife, Carin, and has a younger brother, Dylan. He is the third member of the staff with Chico State playing roots, joining head coach Dwayne Shaffer and his father. Hotaling earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a minor in psychology from Chico State and aims to build a career in college coaching.
