Josh Rife enters his third season as head coach of the Ball State soccer program in 2021, fresh off earning Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year honors last season.

Rife led the Cardinals to a second-place MAC finish in his debut season in 2019 and followed it with a MAC West Division title and a MAC Championship Game appearance in the COVID-delayed 2020-21 campaign. The championship game appearance was the third in program history.

Rife owns an overall record of 21-8-1 (15-4-1 MAC) through his first two seasons, highlighted by a program record-tying 15 wins in 2019. His teams have been especially good at home, going 13-2-1 at the Briner Sports Complex.

After Rife introduced a new style of play, Ball State finished 20th in the country in total assists in 2019, and teammates Tatiana Mason and Sam Kambol both set the school record for assists in a single season with seven apiece.

Rife has coached seven All-MAC selections, including midfielder Nicky Potts on the first team twice. Mason has also been an all-league pick in both of his seasons. In 2020-21, BSU set a program record with four United Soccer Coaches All-Region selections -- Potts, Mason, Lexy Smith and Emily Simmons.

Rife's teams have also excelled off the field with multiple team academic awards and a total of 26 Academic All-MAC selections. In 2020-21, Mason and Smith became the first players in program history to be named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America teams.

Ball State announced Rife as the newest head coach of the school’s soccer team in June of 2019. Rife is the fifth head coach since the program’s inaugural season in 1999.

Rife came to Muncie from Starkville, Mississippi, where he spent one season as an assistant coach at Mississippi State. During his lone year in Mississippi, Rife helped lead the Bulldogs to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Rife led a record-breaking defense at MSU, holding opponents to 11.6 shots per game and allowing only 17 goals.

Before Mississippi State, Rife spent two seasons in Virginia as an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team at Liberty University. There, he guided the Flames to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016 after winning the Big South Conference title. Prior to Liberty, Rife served as an assistant for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the United Soccer League (USL), and was head coach of the team’s U-23 squad. Additionally, he became the youngest head coach in the Major Indoor Soccer League when he was hired by the Rochester Lancers in 2013.

Rife’s coaching career began in 2003 as an assistant with Missouri Baptist University. He also made a stop at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida where he worked as an assistant coach. In 2010, he led the Sailfish to the National Christian College Athletic Association National Championship after compiling a 15-6 record. Rife also served as a volunteer assistant at Gardner Webb University in 2012.

In addition to his several years of coaching experience, Rife played professionally both indoor and outdoor. From 2003-2012 he played in the USL for the Charlotte Eagles and then spent the 2013 season with VSI Tampa Bay FC. From 2005-2013, Rife also spent time in the MISL, playing for the Philadelphia Kixx, Detroit Ignition and Milwaukee Wave.

Rife played collegiately for Texas Christian University for two years before transferring to Indiana University. At Indiana, Rife led the Hoosiers to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2000 and 2001, and a Big 10 title in 2001. He was coached at IU by Jerry Yeagley, the winningest coach in NCAA men’s Division I Soccer history.

After graduating from Indiana with a degree in general studies and a business certificate, Rife has gone on to receive his premier diploma and advanced national diploma from the United Soccer Coaches.

Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Rife is joined in Muncie by his wife, Christy, and two daughters, Maddison and Kilee.