Assistant coach Joel Tyson begins his first season with the UCF men's soccer program in 2015. He is set to work with the goalkeepers along with day-to-day and recruiting responsibilities. Tyson brings six years of coaching experience with stops at Wofford and Hofstra.
Tyson spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Wofford, where he helped the Terriers to a Southern Conference Championship and back-to-back appearances in the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament.
The Irmo, South Carolina, native helped bring in a number of All-Southern Conference honorees including Connor Davis, Nestor Jaramillo, Matthew Aurednik, and Garrett Closs. Davis earned All-South Region selection.
With Hofstra, he worked primarily with the goal keepers and assisted in all aspects of the program's day-to-day operations. In 2010, the team recorded nine shutouts with a 1.12 goals against average, while the Pride's goalkeepers blanked four opponents in his first campaign.
Tyson is the former starting goalkeeper at Coker College, where he graduated in 2008 with dual degrees in history and political science. He tallied a 1.85 goals against average as a senior for the Cobras, when he helped the program to the highest win total in school history. He was also named a team captain as both a junior and senior.
While with the Cobras, Tyson also served as president of Coker's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and helped organize an athletic department fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He also attended the National Leadership Conference in 2007 in Charlotte, N.C.
For the last seven years, Tyson has served as the Director of Goalkeeping at the Ralph Lundy Soccer Academy. He also worked as the goalkeeper coach for the South Carolina Olympic Development Program (ODP), where he assisted Wofford head coach Ralph Polson. He has also worked independently with the goalkeepers for the Long Island Rough Riders of the Premier Development League (PDL).
Tyson earned three soccer letters at Dutch Fork High School prior to attending Coker. He served as the goalkeeper coach at Dutch Fork for one season before joining the Hofstra program in 2009.