CHICAGO – Oscar Rivero, a rising name in the soccer community and a coach with strong Chicago ties, joins the Loyola Chicago men's soccer team as an assistant coach, head coach Steve Bode announced.

Rivero joins the Ramblers after most recently serving as the U16 and U19 Chicago FC United head coach and director of recruitment in the MLS Next youth soccer league. He holds a B License from the US Soccer Federation and master's degrees in fitness and conditioning from Universidad de Cervantes in Madrid and an MBA from Roosevelt University.

"I'm very excited to have Oscar Rivero join our coaching staff," said Loyola Chicago head coach Steve Bode. "Oscar has a proven track record of getting the best out of the players he coaches. His passion, energy for the game, and ability to make student-athletes better will be a true asset to our program. He's also very familiar with the recruiting landscape in Chicago, which will serve him and our program well."

Rivero, a native of Acapulco, Mexico, played collegiate soccer at UIC and Trinidad State College. With the Flames, he was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP in 2016 after scoring the tournament-winner against Wright State. Notably, Rivero's UIC squad faced Loyola Chicago in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that season.

Prior to working with the MLS Next program, Rivero acted as a video analyst and operations director for Fundamental Futbol - an academy which provides supplemental training for youth soccer players, aiming to propel Chicago's top talents to reach their full potential within the game.

From 2019-2022, Rivero was an assistant coach with Chicago FC United in the USL2. Thanks in part to Rivero's recruitment strategies, training protocols, and winning culture, FC United qualified for the playoffs all three seasons he was on staff.

"I am very excited for this opportunity. Loyola men's soccer is a program with a very high ceiling, and I want to be part of that," said Rivero. "In the short time I've worked with our players and staff, I can see why I was so attracted and eager to take this next step in my career. I'm certain that our group of highly ambitious student-athletes and coaches will extract the best out of me."

Rivero began his coaching career in 2018 at Roosevelt University as an assistant coach under current Loyola associate head coach, Graham Brennan, before being elevated to head coach after Brennan's departure in 2020. His 2019 team made it to the National Tournament's round of 48.

Loyola Chicago men's soccer student-athletes Julian Cisneros, Michael Hong, Marc Torrellas, Oscar Dueso, and others have trained with Rivero previously.