In his 21st year, Brian Harvey is the only head coach the Oklahoma City University soccer program has ever had since the men’s program began in 1986 and the women started in 1994.
Harvey was named NAIA Region VI men’s and women’s Coach of the Year in 1999 and Arkansas-Oklahoma Coach of the Year in 1991.
OCU has reached the 2001 NAIA women’s national championship game, the 1999 and 2000 NAIA women’s semifinals and the 1991 NAIA men’s quarterfinals under Harvey’s direction. His 1999 women’s team went 24-2, and the men recorded a 23-2-1 season in 2001.
Harvey has coached 22 NAIA men’s all-Americans, 16 men’s academic all-America scholar-athletes, 24 women’s all-Americans and 28 women’s academic all-America scholar-athletes.
Among those all-Americans, Harvey pupils Richard Benigno, Dino Deleveski and Tim Trevino each turned professional.
Harvey was head coach of the Oklahoma City Slickers, an American Professional Soccer League team that he took to the 1982 Soccer Bowl played before 42,000 at the Silverdome in Detroit. He also coached Oklahoma City and Tulsa in the United Soccer League and the Oklahoma City teams of the U.S. Interregional Soccer League.
A native of Liverpool, England, Harvey graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1966 with a degree in physical education. He played soccer professionally in Australia, China, England and the United States. Harvey first came to the United States to play for Lamar Hunt in the North American Soccer League. He played against the legendary Pele at Hong Kong in 1972.
Harvey and his wife, Judy, have a daughter, Nicole, who played for OCU in 2001-04.
