Joe Barber was announced as the men's soccer assistant coach on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Barber comes to AUM from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga., where he served as an assistant coach since 2018. Barber was instrumental in the Eagles' success over those three seasons as Georgia Southern advanced to the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Tournament final, achieved the highest program final RPI (No. 75) and featured two Sun Belt Conference Newcomers of the Year, one Sun Belt Player of the Year, and nine all-conference performers.
Barber joined Georgia Southern from Temple University, where he served two seasons as an assistant coach. During his two seasons, the Owls put together a 19-14-3 overall record, including a 14-3-2 record at home, with an unbeaten 2016 season. The year 2017 saw the Owls achieve a program-best fourth-place finish in the American Athletic Conference.
Prior to Temple, Barber served as an assistant coach at Eastern Florida State College for the 2015 season, helping the Titans finish third at the NJCAA Division I National Championships. The team finished with a 15-2-2 overall record and produced four NJCAA All-Americans.
Barber also served as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Mobile in 2014, where he helped the team win the Southern States Athletic Conference regular season title and advance to the NAIA National Final Eight in postseason play. The Rams ended the season with a 15-4-3 overall record and a final NAIA national ranking of No. 6. While in Alabama, Barber also won the u17's Boys Alabama State Cup with his club team, and was the assistant to the Girls u17's team who also won their state cup.
A gradate of the Florida Institute of Technology in 2014, Barber played two seasons for the Panthers, after transferring from Limestone College, where he played his first two years collegiately. He received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from FIT, minoring in Sustainability.
Before coming to the United States to play collegiately, Barber played semi-professionally in England and also participated in parts of four seasons in the States in the PDL.
A native of Leeds, England, Barber holds his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, USSF E License and the English FA Level 2 coaching qualifications.
