New men's soccer assistant coach named

  • Published
  • By Jerry Cross
  • Athletics Communications
Matthew Okoh has been hired as an assistant coach for the Air Force men's soccer program, according to head coach Doug Hill. Okoh, who has five years of collegiate head coaching experience, joins the Falcon coaching staff after serving as player/coach for the German club team SV-DJK Taufkirchen since January. 

"We are very happy to have Matt on board with us," said Hill. "He has both a great playing and coaching background and will complement our current staff. The fact that he has been involved with the game of soccer at almost every level will help us continue moving forward as a program." 

Okoh is familiar with collegiate soccer in the state of Colorado, having played at the University of Denver. He is ranked fourth on the school's career list with 50 goals and seventh with 106 total points. His 26 goals in 1992 are currently tied for fifth on DU's single-season list. 

His first head coaching job was with the women's soccer program at Division III Nichols College in 2001, where he led the team to the conference tournament final in his only season before moving on to Grambling State, where he established the school's first women's soccer team. He was also the women's head coach at Delaware State for two seasons before taking the head coaching job of the Delaware Dynasty of the USL Premiere Development League in 2007. After just one season, the league folded and Okoh was named an assistant coach for Spvgg Bayern Hof of the German league, making him the first African-American to coach soccer for a professional club team in Europe. 

His professional playing experience began with the Colorado Foxes of the American Professional Soccer League in 1995. He later moved on to play professionally for Major League Soccer's New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids. In addition, he has an extensive playing resume in Europe. 

Okoh, 37, is a member of the United States Soccer Federation and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. He holds a Union of European Football Associations "B" License in addition to a United States Soccer Federation "A" License. He was characterized in EA Sports PlayStation 2 games FIFA 1996, FIFA 2001 and 2002.