Jose Ortega returned to the Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer program as an assistant coach ahead of the 2017 season. Already on the staff when current head coach Matt O'Sullivan took charge, the 2023 campaign is Ortega's seventh back with the Broncos.

Ortega was a two-year letterwinner at Cal Poly Pomona in 2013 and 2014, starring for former CPP and current UC Irvine head coach Yossi Raz as a defensive anchor. He appeared in all 38 games the Broncos played during those two seasons, starting each one as CPP went 24-8-6 (.711) overall. Ortega earned All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) honorable mention in his first go-around in the green and gold, adding a pair of assists offensively.

As a senior for first-time CCAA Tournament champion Cal Poly Pomona, Ortega was voted by league head coaches as CPP's first-ever (and still only) CCAA Defensive Player of the Year, and was selected to the All-CCAA First Team. A unanimous All-West Region honoree, he was recognized as a second-team National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American. That 2014 squad broke several program records that still stand, among them for wins (17-tied), winning percentage (.900, 17-1-2) fewest goals allowed (10) and goals-against average (0.48). Ortega was the only Bronco who started every match in both 2013 and 2014, and led the squad in minutes played in each season to total 3,465.

Ortega began his collegiate playing career at El Camino College in Torrance. The Los Angeles native is a graduate of George Washington Preparatory Senior High. Click here for his CPP student-athlete bio.