New Mexico native Oliver Soukup named head coach of NMMI’s JC football program

Jun. 18—If Oliver Soukup is trying to make a run at the title of Mr. Football in New Mexico, he’s checking a lot of boxes.

The former New Mexico State Aggie player and assistant head coach of the program has been named the new head coach of New Mexico Military Institute’s nationally-recognized junior college football program.

“There was a very competitive list of candidates, and I was quite pleased at the quantity and quality of the applicant pool,” NMMI Athletic Director Jose Barron said in a release from the school.

“… Soukup has been a coach here at NMMI previously, he knows our school and football program well, and everywhere he’s coached after NMMI — such as at ENMU and NMSU — he’s always recruited our athletes, knowing the quality of program and our players. This is big win for NMMI football already and I look forward to seeing him out on the field this season.”

Soukup, a New Mexico native who played high school football at Cloudcroft High School and was former All Big West defensive lineman for the NMSU Aggies in 2000, was an assistant coach at NMMI in 2011 before moving on to Eastern New Mexico University as an assistant from 2012-2015, then coaching at NMSU from 2015-2021. Soukup coached for one season at Carlsbad High School in 2022 and was defensive coordinator at ENMU last season.

At both ENMU and NMSU, Soukup made inroads with heavy recruiting of New Mexico and West Texas athletes.

Soukup, who met with players via video conference Tuesday after being hired, replaces Kurt Taufa’asau, who left to coach at Division II New Mexico Highlands this offseason after compiling a 27-10 record and winning the 2021 NJCAA national championship.

“It is an honor to be afforded this opportunity to lead such a prestigious program,” said Soukup in a school release. “It is very rare in someone’s life that these types of…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mexico-native-oliver-soukup-named-030100227.html

Author : Albuquerque Journal, N.M.

Publish date : 2024-06-19 03:01:00

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