National Championship Coach Returns to the Hill

Athletic Director Brady McKillip announced the hiring of Dr. Ivan Joseph ’96 as Associate Head Coach for Men’s Soccer. Joseph was the Graceland Head Coach for Men’s Soccer from 1997 to 2007 and was instrumental in creating a culture of success, winning multiple conference championships, appearing at four NAIA National Championships. During a decade of leadership, Dr. Joseph helped secure alumni donations that added four training fields, a new match field with lights, irrigation, and a new on-site locker room. The list of former players and assistants under Dr. Joseph that have gone on to achieve their own success in coaching/mentoring is extensive and far-reaching.

In 2008, Dr. Joseph moved back to Canada, becoming the Athletic Director at Ryerson, now Toronto Metropolitan University, which has an enrollment of over 30,000 students. From 2008 to 2018, Dr. Joseph transformed a department with only one winning program into a powerhouse of athletics. Ryerson won its first ever Conference and National Championships, and Joseph spearheaded the $100M revitalization of the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly the Maple Leaf Gardens). Concurrently with his role of AD, Dr. Joseph also led the men’s and women’s soccer teams as Head Coach, accumulating a record of 51-15-20 (2009-2017) while leading the men’s team to it first ever OUA East conference 1^st place finish in each of his last two years and competing at the National Championship. He also partnered with the faculty and private industry to create a new and popular major, Sport Media, for which he was a faculty member.

After accomplishing his goals at TMU, Dr. Joseph took the position of Vice Provost at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He took his leadership and educational expertise to new heights, providing strategic leadership to a team of 215+ staff across 10 units, while having direct oversight of a $13M budget. He spearheaded new program development, implementation and community engagement.

In addition to his university roles, Dr. Joseph has also been serving as the Women’s Head Coach for the Guyana Football Federation (2019-2022) which was recognized by FIFA as best and most improved federation for coaching efforts at the 2020 World Cup Qualifiers.

From 2020 until he recently chose to focus full-time on consulting, Dr. Joseph had been the Vice President at Wilfred Laurier in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Always an educator, first and foremost, Ivan authored the book, You Got This: Mastering the Skill of Self-confidence, for which the TEDx Talk has reached over 28 million and been named by Forbes as a Top Ten TED Talk for graduates about the Meaning of Life. Ivan has been a sought-after keynote speaker, consultant and workshop facilitator across North America for Fortune 500 companies, professional sport teams, Olympians and World Champions. He has served as the high-performance coach with Canada Basketball and an advisor for the NHL.

Joseph has remained connected to Graceland and served on the board of trustees from 2017 to 2022.

“We are thrilled to have Ivan back on campus,” said Athletic Director Brady McKillip. “He brings a level of experience and leadership to a program full of potential. I look forward to working with him on a regular basis.”

As the first passion project of his consulting endeavors, Ivan has offered to bring his research and expertise back to Lamoni where it all began. Graceland is extremely excited to be welcoming back the Joseph family to Lamoni. Welcome home, Dr. Joseph!