Amherst College Athletics

Don Faulstick has been the Director of Athletics & Physical Education at Amherst College since February of 2014.

As Amherst’s director of athletics, he leads the nation’s oldest intercollegiate athletic program. Amherst’s 27 teams compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and in the NCAA Division III. Faulstick is responsible for overseeing a staff of 29 full-time coaches and 58 assistant coaches and athletic staff, while supervising the strategic planning and crisis management of the department and conceptualizing and implementing department policies, procedures and initiatives.

With Faulstick as the director, Amherst athletics has continued to excel, winning 30 NESCAC championships and making 94 NCAA tournament appearances, including 10 NCAA Final Fours and 5 national championship victories. 

Amherst had finished in the top 10 of the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings in 3 of the last 6 years, including a 7th-place finish for the 2024-25 academic year. 

In his tenure, Faulstick has overseen multi-million dollar renovations of the baseball field, tennis courts, field hockey field, Coolidge cage, softball field and Alumni Gym . He negotiated the department's first uniform and equipment contract with Under Armour, reorganized Amherst LEADS into a comprehensive leadership program which includes a four year curriculum for student-athletes, and created the Council for Amherst College Student Athletes of Color (CACSAC). He also works hand in hand with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and established a partnership with Radical Health that helps first years adapt to the challenges of college and gives them tools to stay well and resilient. 

Since his arrival on campus in 1997, Faulstick has served with distinction in multiple capacities, including associate director of athletics, as well as an assistant football coach and the head softball coach.

As the associate director of athletics, he played an integral role in the 2012-13 renovation of Pratt Field. The nation’s third-oldest football playing site underwent a major overhaul, which included the construction of a new turf surface, a 15,000-square-foot fieldhouse and an eight-lane all-weather track, designed to allow Amherst to host championship-level meets for the first time since 1996.

Prior to his position of interim director of athletics, Faulstick collaborated with his predecessor Suzanne Coffey on department budgetary, personnel, fundraising and crisis management issues, and helped conceptualize and execute numerous department policies, procedures and initiatives.

During his time as offensive coordinator for the Amherst football program, Faulstick helped lead the Purple & White to four NESCAC championships as those teams pieced together a 101-35 overall record during his tenure, including undefeated seasons in 2009 and 2011. He also enjoyed a 53-12 record as the head coach of the softball program in 1997-98, earning the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament berth.

Faulstick graduated from Mansfield University with a bachelor of arts and received his master's degree as a graduate assistant football coach at Shippensburg University in 1988. He worked as an assistant football coach at Union College, Princeton University, WPI, and RPI, then returned for a second stint to be the head baseball and an assistant football coach at WPI.