The Penn State men’s soccer coaching staff got bigger Monday with the addition of assistant coach Oscar Umar.

Umar, a Villanova men’s soccer alum and United Soccer League (USL) veteran, will join the Nittany Lions ahead of the 2023 season.

Excited to welcome Oscar Umar to our coaching staff

: https://t.co/1bOy8L1KYQ pic.twitter.com/vE82FJ3LOx

— Penn State Men’s Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) July 10, 2023

“I want to thank Jeff Cook and his coaching staff for this incredible opportunity,” Umar said in a release. “I am very excited to represent the Penn State men’s soccer program and can’t wait to get the season started.” 

Umar most recently served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis for the previous two seasons. He boasts additional coaching experience at Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania, where he operated as an assistant coach from 2017 to 2018.

“I am delighted to welcome Oscar to Penn State,” head coach Jeff Cook said of Umar in a release. “We are very excited and proud to add him to our coaching staff and look forward to his contributions to our program. Oscar stood out as the exceptional candidate during our search process, he has the exact profile we were looking for and is a top, top young coach in addition to being a terrific person. Our players are going to benefit greatly from his knowledge and will enjoy working with him in pursuit of our goals this season.”

Prior to his coaching career, Umar was a four-year starter and two-time captain at Villanova from 2011 to 2014. Umar, a midfielder, was named the Wildcats’ Most Valuable Player in 2013 and earned Big East All-Rookie Team honors in 2011 and Third-Team All-Conference honors in 2012.

Umar moved on to the USL League One and played with the Richmond Kickers and the St. Louis Football Club in the USL Championship League.