With the new school year looming, local schools have announced several different coaching changes and additions.
The biggest was at Winter Springs High School, where the school quickly named longtime assistant coach Eric Birle as the new Head Softball Coach after 2-time State Champion and 2026 Florida Dairy Farmers Class 5A Coach of the Year Farrah Gordon unexpectedly resigned after six seasons.
Birle becomes just the third softball coach at Winter Springs, following the late Mark Huaman and Gordon, has been a top assistant for the Bears since 2010, and has been a part of six Final 4’s, two state runner-ups and three State Championships.
A 1988 graduate of Lake Mary High School, Birle was a star baseball player for the Rams and played collegiately at St. John’s River State College in Palatka and Old Dominion University in Virginia.
UCF Men’s Soccer adds Milo Bruce-Burgess
The UCF men’s soccer team has announced the addition of Milo Bruce-Burgess to its support staff ahead of the fall 2026 campaign. Bruce-Burgess will step into a special assistant/operations role with the program.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of this program,” he said. “In building my network I had worked with coach Calabrese and the rest of the staff a few times in the past, and really felt that what they had built here was something I wanted to be a part of. UCF’s men’s soccer program has always been such a competitive team on the national stage and within the Sun Belt, and I’m super excited to join and learn from the rest of the staff.”
Milo, the brother of UCF men’s tennis head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess, makes the move to Orlando after spending the last three years on staff as an assistant coach and associate head coach with the Westminster Griffins in Salt Lake City, Utah, from the spring of 2022 through the fall 2025 campaign.
With Bruce-Burgess’ aid, Westminster saw four Griffins earn RMAC All-Conference honors throughout his three-year tenure, accompanied by 10 honorable mention selections in that span.
The program notched a pair of double-digit win seasons on his watch, going 10-8-1 in his first campaign on staff in 2022 before it also authored an 11-7-2 year in 2025.
He also pioneered a pilot program aimed at bringing more student-athletes into the university, where they would receive additional developmental help with their on-field skills with the goal of more quickly progressing to higher levels. The program not only directly benefited the Griffins on the field, but aided in generating revenue for the school and the Westminster men’s soccer program as well.
Prior to his time with Westminster, Bruce-Burgess served as an assistant coach with Upper Iowa from 2018 through 2020, where he also earned his master’s degree in Sports Administration and Coaching Leadership.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from William Penn in 2015, where he played throughout his four-year collegiate career.
Away from the pitch at the collegiate level, Bruce-Burgess also directed the Wasatch Soccer Club in Ogden, Utah for six years from 2020-2025, working with boys’ U13-U19 age groups. With the program, he headed the college advisory program and served as the college director for the club, where he helped move dozens of athletes to Division I universities.
“I’m looking forward to engaging with the community and helping get more people out to our games,” Bruce-Burgess continued. “Recognizing the importance of showing what soccer truly is and alumni, the community, to engage within UCF will be key in helping improve the team’s on-field performance as well.”
Gary Ogilvie joins Women’s Soccer staff at UCF
Head UCF women’s soccer coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak has announced the addition of Gary Ogilvie to her staff as an assistant coach.
Ogilvie comes to UCF after spending the last two seasons in Jacksonville as the associate head coach for the JU women’s soccer program. Prior to his time at Jacksonville, he served one year as the head women’s soccer coach at Division II University of Charleston and three years as an assistant men’s soccer coach at Charleston. He began his collegiate coaching career at Snow College, where he was an assistant for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs before being named interim head coach for both teams.
“We are thrilled to welcome Gary Ogilvie to our UCF Women’s Soccer family," Roberts Sahaydak said. "Gary brings a wealth of coaching experience, a strong eye for player development, and a proven ability to build meaningful relationships with student-athletes.
“What stood out to us throughout the hiring process was Gary’s passion for the game, his alignment with our culture, and his desire to invest in the development of our players every day. He will make an immediate impact on our program through his knowledge, work ethic, and ability to connect with our team. We are excited about the experience, energy, and perspective he will bring to our staff as we continue to compete for championships.”
A native of the United Kingdom, Ogilvie demonstrated a blend of leadership, tactical intelligence, and player-centered coaching during his tenure as associate head coach at JU. He was known for his strong organizational skills and attention to detail, helping to structure training sessions that emphasized both technical development and game awareness. Ogilvie also showed a clear commitment to fostering a positive team culture, building trust with student-athletes while encouraging accountability and resilience. Additionally, his recruiting insight and dedication to player development played a key role in strengthening the program’s competitiveness and long-term success.
He helped lead the Dolphins to 13 wins over his two years in Jacksonville, which included a 9-5-5 record in 2025 and a deep run at the ASUN Women’s Soccer Tournament.
Prior to his time at JU, Ogilvie guided the women’s program at Charleston to an 18-1-3 record, a year after the team finished 10-10. His standout season included both the regular-season and tournament championships in the Mountain East Conference, with the 18 wins marking a program record. His squad also earned the program’s first No. 1 regional ranking and hosted NCAA Tournament matches. The team’s only loss came in the NCAA Tournament regional round.
Having joined Charleston as an assistant in the fall of 2020, Ogilvie played a pivotal role in the program’s success, helping lead the men’s team to a national runner-up finish, a Super Regional championship, four Mountain East Conference tournament titles, and three MEC regular-season championships. Over that span, the team compiled an impressive 49-4-3 overall record.
Jo Koons added to UCF Softball Staff
Head coach Cindy Ball-Malone and the UCF softball program have announced the addition of Jo Koons to the team’s coaching staff ahead of the 2027 spring campaign.
“Knowing what coach Ball-Malone and the program at UCF have been able to create, and the desire to make it to the Women’s College World Series for the first time, it’s a really exciting time to join the Knights. I want to be a part of that,” Koons said.
Koons brings an extensive coaching background to Orlando, highlighted by her role over the last two seasons on staff with the AUSL’s Utah Talons. Promoted this season to the role of associate head coach, Koons and Talons head coach Ball-Malone have coached Utah to a league-best 9-3 record entering game two of the team’s series at Carolina June 26.
The Talons in 2025 captured the inaugural AUSL Championship with a pair of 3-1 victories over the Bandits in the championship series, finishing with a final 18-6 record that represented the top mark in the league, and under Koons’ watch, saw five members earn major season honors, led by AUSL Pitcher of the Year and Seminole High School graduate Georgina Corrick.
“Coaching with the Talons has been such a great experience. I’ve followed coach Bear’s career for a long time. She was at Boise State when I was playing at Utah State, so we played against each other then. I was thrilled for the opportunity to work with her this summer, and we really hit it off. The opportunity came to join the staff at UCF, and it was a no-brainer to continue surrounding myself with her knowledge of the game and what she’s been able to do to create a winning culture and a culture of character.”
In the collegiate realm, Koons most recently spent the 2025 and 2026 seasons serving as the head coach at Abilene Christian and this spring guided the Wildcats to their first win over a power four opponent since 2022 with a convincing 9-4 triumph over the Utah Utes March 12.
Prior to her head coaching appointment with Abilene Christian, Koons had previously accrued power four experience as a volunteer assistant coach with the Oregon Ducks for two seasons from 2020-21 and the Stanford Cardinal in 2016.
“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to continue working with coach Bear, and Orlando is such a great place to be. What they’ve been able to create, wanting to make a championship run and to continue helping athletes continue to grow was very important for me. The program had a great run to the Super Regionals in 2026 and the chance to help lead this team to the World Series is very exciting.”
Having previously held a head coaching role with Lassen College in California in 2018, Koons’ assistant coaching background also includes stops at UT Arlington from 2023-24, Longwood in 2022, Utah State in 2019, and Colorado Christian in 2017.
A graduate of Utah State in 2015 where she spent her four-year playing career, Koons finished her tenure with the Aggies tied for fifth on the program’s all-time career triples list (10) and eighth in career walks (65). She also ranked among program single-season records in runs scored (36, 2015, 2nd), walks (26, 2014, 3rd), and triples (5, 2015, T-6th).
