In his seventh season alongside head coach Scott Calabrese, associate head coach Paul Souders played a key role in coaching the Knights through their historic first season as members of the Sun Belt Conference in 2023.
For just the third time in program history, the Black and Gold earned a top 16 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, slotting in at No. 12 overall and earning a bye through the first round, as well as hosting honors for the second round. The team’s No. 12 seed marked the second-highest tournament seed in program history, behind only the squad’s No. 9 spot in 2019.
The Knights’ lofty tournament placing represented the culmination of one of the more dominant seasons of Souders’ first seven years in Orlando, as the team’s season-opening 2-1 upset victory over the then-No. 4/9 Clemson Tigers (TopDrawerSoccer/United Soccer Coaches) boosted the Black and Gold into the national top 25 ranking from week one through the remainder of the fall slate.
UCF’s road upset ignited a season-opening three-match win streak, as well as a six-match unbeaten streak that also featured draws with two ranked foes: then-No. 11 Florida International and then-No. 4 West Virginia. The Black and Gold’s final 10-4-2 record represented the third campaign with at least 10 wins under Calabrese and Souders, and the first since UCF notched back-to-back such seasons in 2018-19.
The then-third-ranked Knights suffered one of just two regular-season losses against the then-No. 1 Marshall Thundering Herd by a narrow 1-0 margin Sept. 23, and responded with six consecutive victories during which the team outscored its opposition by an aggregate 16-5.
Calabrese credited his Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year selection to his whole coaching staff, and the honor was one of three major conference post-season awards won by the Knights, joining Clarence Awoudor’s Newcomer of the Year and Saku Heiskanen’s Freshman of the Year honors. Lucca Dourado and Zane Bubb also earned selections to the Sun Belt’s First Team All-Conference, while Heiskanen, AJ Seals and Anderson Rosa garnered Second Team recognition as well.
Souders has seen six of the student-athletes he's coached at UCF selected in the MLS SuperDraft since he joined the program Feb. 13, 2017 as an assistant coach, two of which were first round selections.
Anderson Rosa was most recently selected with the 14th pick of the second round in the 2024 draft by the Colorado Rapids, and Gino Vivi was taken in the first round, 23rd overall in 2023. Nick Taylor and Yanis Leerman were both selected in 2022, while Cal Jennings was a first-round selection with the 17th overall pick in 2019. Jonathan Dean was the 39th overall pick by Orlando City in 2020 as well.
The sixth season of Souders’ tenure with Calabrese and staff in 2022 saw the Knights earn a ranked win over then-No. 13 Charlotte, the fourth straight year in which UCF had earned a ranked win and the fifth straight in earning a result. The 2022 slate saw Dourado and Rosa receive nods to the All-Conference First Team while Vivi was a member of the Second Team and goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz was named to the All-Rookie Team. Dourado, Rosa and Vivi were named to the 2022 All-East Region Second Team, as well.
Dourado and Vivi were also members of the 2021 All-East Region Second Team and were two of six total All-Conference selections in 2021. Dourado was the lone Knight on the First Team, while Vivi, Rosa, Leerman, Taylor and Mauricio Villalobos all earned Second Team nods.
The fourth campaign of Souders' tenure in 2020 was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fall season was pushed to the spring of 2021 with a shortened 10-match, conference-only schedule. UCF bounced back from a slow start to the year, winning six consecutive matches to earn its third straight American regular-season crown.
The unbeaten streak didn't stop there, as the Knights topped SMU in penalty kicks in the conference tournament semifinals before going on to defeat Tulsa 1-0 in the championship match, earning the program's first conference tournament title and securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which had been cut from 48 teams to 36 for the season.
The Black and Gold met James Madison in the second round following their first-round bye, besting the Dukes 2-1 to advance to the team's second straight Sweet 16 appearance.
Souders helped guide UCF to its best season in program history in 2019. The Knights posted a record of 15-3-2 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the furthest the team had ever gone. The 15 victories tied a season high and marked the highest win total in UCF’s Division I tenure. The Black and Gold posted a 6-0-1 record in conference play, becoming just the third team in the history of The American to go unbeaten in conference play.
For the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, his first two as an associate head coach under Calabrese, Souders and staff earned the American Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. The squad went 16 straight matches without a loss in 2019, shattering the previous record of 10 straight matches unbeaten in 2018. The program earned its second straight national seed ahead of the NCAA Tournament, checking in at No. 9. In the second round, the Knights defeated Missouri State by a score of 2-1 in overtime, clinching UCF’s first berth to the NCAA Tournament’s third round in program history.
In 2018 and 2019, Souders has helped coach one of the best offenses in all of Division I. For the entirety of those two regular seasons, the Knights were ranked within the top 10 in the nation in almost every offensive category, including total assists, total goals, total points, scoring offense, points per game, assists per game, and goals per game. They were the top squad in shots per game and shots on goal per game in 2018, and led the nation in corners in 2019. UCF also ranked first in The American in each category.
The Knights took home four major conference accolades in 2019 as well. Jennings won his second consecutive Offensive Player of the Year, while Yannik Oettl earned his second straight nod as Goalkeeper of the Year. Yoni Sorokin was dubbed Midfielder of the Year while Gino Vivi was honored as the Rookie of the Year. The Black and Gold had five All-Conference selections in The American, including four on the first team, and a pair of freshmen made their way onto the All-Rookie squad.
The awards kept coming during the 2020-21 season as Oettl three-peated as the conference's Goalkeeper of the Year and Sorokin repeated as the Midfielder of the Year. Five Knights made the All-Conference First Team and another made the cut for the Second Team. Three rookies were named to the American's All-Rookie Team as well, and the team was tabbed with the conference's Fair Play Award.
Souders and company also had a hand in coaching two All-Americans in 2018-19. Jennings was named to the All-America First Team in 2018 and 2019, while Leerman earned a nod to the All-American Second Team following the spring 2021 campaign.
Four of UCF’s nine NCAA Tournament nods have come with Souders as a member of the staff, with the first two including hosting privileges as the Knights earned the No. 14 national seed in 2018 and No. 9 in 2019. The team shattered their highest ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, as the team set a personal best of No. 7 in 2018 and went on to climb as high as No. 5 in 2019.
Souders helped produce a two-time MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in Jennings, who scored 20 goals in 19 games including three hat tricks in 2018. The following season saw Jennings net 18 goals in 20 games and tally a hat trick in The American tournament semifinals.
2018 saw UCF win the conference regular season title with a 5-1-1 record in conference play and an overall 13-3-3 mark. Since becoming a Division I program, it represented the fourth-best record the Knights have earned. UCF put together an impressive 8-2-3 record at the UCF Soccer Complex, scoring 29 goals and grabbing 86 points. The Knights also went on a 10-match unbeaten streak, which at the time set a new program best.
Souders and the staff produced three major award winners in 2018 (Offensive, Midfielder, Goalkeeper of the Year), seven All-Conference selections, and eight Player of the Week awards from The American. They also produced five All-Region selections and two All-Americans (Cal Jennings and Louis Perez). In addition to all the awards, the Knights capped off the regular season with a ranking of No. 9, which marked the third highest in program history. Throughout the season, the Knights reached as high as No. 7.
During the 2017 season, Souders helped produce nine All-Conference selections, the Offensive Player of the Year, and two NSCAA All-East Region honorees while finishing the season 8-6-2 with a 4-2-1 conference record. The Knights went on an eight-match unbeaten streak to make it to The American Conference Tournament finals, and during his first year the Knights never lost a match at home.
Souders also oversaw student-athlete academics where Matias Pyysalo was named The American’s Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The two-time NSCAA Far West Region Assistant Coach of the Year spent eight seasons at New Mexico before coming to Orlando, Fla.
During a nine-year stint with the Lobos, Souders helped the program to three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, including a run to the 2013 NCAA College Cup in Philadelphia, Pa. New Mexico’s success includes qualifying for five NCAA Tournaments, four conference championships and an undefeated (18-0-4) campaign in 2011. The Lobos posted a 101-42-21 overall and 45-18-7 league mark during that span.
While serving as associate head coach over the past seven campaigns, Souders was responsible for recruiting, academics, scheduling and coaching the offensive attack.
Academics are a point of emphasis for Souders, who aided the Lobos to a program-record 3.43 grade point average in the fall of 2013. He mentored two-time COSIDA Academic All-America selection Levi Rossi and NSCAA Scholar Athlete Kyle Venter. Lobo student-athletes have also earned eight COSIDA Academic All-Region and 27 academic all-conference honors under his guidance.
Prior to arriving at New Mexico, Souders spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Dayton, helping the Flyers to a 27-18-11 overall record. During his tenure, four former Flyers who have played professionally in North America and Europe.
Dayton finished the 2007 campaign 10-4-5 overall and advanced to the opening round of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championship. The Flyers completed the season on a six-game unbeaten streak, had two players selected to the All-Atlantic 10 and NSCAA Middle Atlantic Region teams and finished No. 8 in the regional rankings.
The Dallas, Texas, native earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education at Clemson. Calabrese coached Souders during his senior campaign, which led to Souders playing in his fourth NCAA Tournament. He was a part of two NCAA Sweet 16 berths with the Tigers.
Souders also played in the U-23 United States Olympic Pool. He also has coaching experience with the New Mexico State U-16 team and served as a graduate assistant in 2004.
Souders and his wife, formerly Lindsey Gramley, have two daughters Kya and Tegan.