We’re continuing on in our 2025 FC Dallas player recaps today, with a look at a Homegrown player that is starting to make some noise with the first team. Defender Nolan Norris has been waiting in the wings for a couple of seasons to get his moment, and in spots in 2025, he finally got it.
Let’s dive into his season.
Stat breakdown
The Fort Worth native got to get on the field a bit earlier in the season than expected when former full back Marco Farfan picked up an injury that kept him out for a couple of months. Norris became a starter for a few weeks before missing some time with the US U-20s during their World Cup run.
| Name | Games Played | Games Started | Minutes | Goals | Assists | SOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Norris | 13 | 8 | 636 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
And now for some fancy charts and graphs.
The more you look at Norris, the more you hope he gets more minutes in 2026 as a left back or even one of the three center defenders should head coach Eric Quill keep the 5-2-3 next season. His appearance in the playoffs as a left center back was one of his best first team games to date (yes, that includes the penalty miss).
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Highlight
Yeah, the one highlight may be a tad awkward for some folks. Norris‘ one assist on the season was in the 4-2 win at Sporting Kansas City, when he set up Lucho Acosta’s second goal.
Will he be back in 2026?
Norris has two more options years left on his original MLS deal with FC Dallas. He’s been on the Supplemental roster and unless FC Dallas offers him a new deal this winter (which I think they actually will similar to what we saw with Bernard Kamungo, Logan Farrington and Tsiki Ntsabeleng this past year).
Final thoughts
I think it is fair to say that a lot of us see a bright future for Norris. He’s been great with the United States men’s youth national teams, which included a trip to the U-20 World Cup in Chile this year.
Given how he also started in the back line for FC Dallas in the second playoff match against Vancouver tells me that Quill also sees a bright future for him as well:
“I mean, Nolan played outstanding. You just feel bad for a kid who stood on his head and played a beautiful game. What people are probably going to talk about is the penalty, and that’s tough. I told him we just have to grow from this. It doesn’t feel good right now to hear that message, and there’s nothing I can say to those guys that will make tonight feel any better. We’re going in the right direction.” - Quill on Norris’ playoff game against Vancouver.
Like I mentioned above, Norris is one of the guys that I see being brought back for next season and with a new contract to boot. The bigger question in my mind will be whether or not the club moves him into the senior roster next season or keep him on the Supplemental side of things for one more year.
Either way, I think Norris will be back, and I hope he’s a bigger part of the team next season in the defense.
