Baldwin Wallace University

Reid Ayers enters his 24th season as the Head Men's Soccer Coach at Baldwin Wallace University in 2025.  The two-time Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association Hall of Famer has won more than 300 games and is the most successful coach in the 54-year history of men’s soccer at Baldwin Wallace. Ayers goals are for each player to maximize their potential in a challenging, competitive learning environment insuring not only success during their time at BW but establishing habits that they will carry into their everyday lives once their college career is over.

Ayers at Baldwin Wallace

• BW's first full-time head soccer coach directed both the men’s and women’s teams from 2002-2017 before working exclusively with the men’s program. He holds school records for career and seasonal wins for both the men’s and women’s programs
• Led his team to its first-ever NCAA Division III National Tournament appearance in 2011
• Team has been regionally ranked 14 times and achieved it’s program’s best national ranking of No. 7 in 2011
• His team has been recognized for Academic Achievement by the United Soccer Coaches / NSCAA 16 times in Ayers's career

Under Ayers’ Guidance

• Has produced a United Soccer Coaches All-American and 17 times Yellow Jackets have been recognized as All-Region honorees by the United Soccer Coaches / NSCAA in addition to eight OAC Positional Players of the Year
• Under his mentorship, eight times BW players achieved Academic All-American status including the program’s second Co-SIDA / Google Cloud Student-Athlete of the Year in 2019
• Three times Yellow Jacket Soccer players won the OAC Clyde Lamb Award for outstanding academic / athletic achievement

Professional Highlights

• Earned Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association’s Honor Award in 2019
• In 2017 received Ohio’s Director of Coaching Award recognizing “exceptional contributions to the growth and development of the game and who serve to inspire us by example”
• Worked with US Soccer assisting in selecting players for inclusion into the country’s youth national teams in addition to serving as an age group coach for the Midwest Region Olympic Development Program
• Served as a Professional Match Evaluator for Major League Soccer
• Member of the US Soccer Coaching Education Instructional Staff
• Holds United States Soccer Federation National “A” and National “Youth” License in addition to a Premier Diploma from the NSCAA
• Serves as the Regional Chair on the United Soccer Coaches All-American Committee in addition to the Executive Board of the OCSA

As a Player

• Ayers was a three-time All-Presidents Conference performer at Hiram College, in addition to being named the team’s Most Valuable Player as a senior while serving as a team captain his junior and senior seasons
• Holds the distinction of starting every game in his college career

Hometown Roots

• A native of Bay Village, Ohio, he was a prep standout for one of the state’s top soccer programs
• Coach Ayers and his wife Lisa reside in Canton, Ohio

This page was last updated on August 22, 2024