Men's Soccer

Howard Names Men's Soccer Coach

Howard University has named Joseph E. Okoh as its new head men's soccer coach.  Okoh brings a wealth of experience to the Bison program.  He comes to Howard from Shepherd University in West Virginia where he compiled an impressive record that includes a 38-13-9 slate the past three years.  Along the way, Okoh became Shepherd's all-time "winningest" coach.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity to coach the men's soccer program at Howard Univ ersity," said Okoh.  "There is a great tradition here and the expectations are high among alumni, students and followers of the program.  I am looking forward to the challenge of having a first class program that is highly competitive on the field while also maintaining a high level of success in the classroom."

Under Okoh's guidance, the Shepherd program ranked in the Division II Top 25.  In 2005, Okoh was honored as the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

"We greatly appreciate all that Coach Okoh has done to build Shepherd University men's soccer into a competitive program at the conference, regional and national levels," said Shepherd University Assistant Director of Athletics Ken Tyler.  "His success at Shepherd is evident in this opportunity at Division I Howard University and we wish him all the best."

As impressive as Okoh's record has been on the field, it is equally impressive in the classroom where he maintained a 95 percent graduation rate and several of his players received Academic All American honors.

"That was one of the main factors in our decision to hire him," said Howard Director of Athletics Dwight Datcher.  "He has shown the ability to recruit and graduate student athletes while at the same time being able to experience a high degree of success on the field."

Howard University won national championships in 1971 and 1974 and finished runner-up in 1988, but has failed to reach double digit wins the past few years.

"I often hear about the glory days of soccer at Howard," said Datcher.  "We feel that Okoh has what it takes to get Howard back to those days.  His teams have consistently qualified for the NCAAs during his tenure."

Okoh played collegiately at Metropolitan State College where he was conference Rookie of the Year and a three-time All Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team selection.  He also played professionally in both the indoor and outdoor leagues.  Okoh's son Michael is a member of the Bison soccer team.  Okoh is a 1991 graduate of Metropolitan State College with BS degree in Geographic Information Systems.

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