Staff Directory

Mike Lyons

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:

Mike Lyons joined Tennessee soccer's coaching staff as an assistant coach in January 2025.

In his first season on Rocky Top in 2025, Lyons helped the Lady Vols reach historic heights as the team achieved its first No. 1 ranking and victory over a No. 1 ranked opponent in program history. Closing with a 12-4-3 record, UT earned its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth after suffering just two regular season defeats. Two Lady Vols earned All-American honors while four received All-SEC recognition.

Lyons spent the 2023-24 seasons at the University of Dayton, where he was an assistant coach for the men’s team.

During the 2024 season, Lyons helped guide the Flyers to a 14-3-3 overall record and their second consecutive A10 Tournament Championship, which marked the first-ever back-to-back A10 Championships for the program. Additionally, Dayton men’s soccer was the No. 5 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament (highest in school history) and notched its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.

Dayton men's soccer was also ranked inside the top-25 for seven consecutive weeks during the 2024 season and ranked as high as No. 2 in TopDrawerSoccer.com's national rankings.

In 2023, Lyons aided the Flyers to their fifth A10 Championship in school history after a successful campaign both offensively and defensively.

In addition to Dayton's team success, Lyons helped players develop individually and coached four players who went on to be drafted to MLS clubs, including Aidan O'Connor (1st round - 2024), Kenji Mboma (2nd round - 2024), Geni Kanyane (3rd round - 2024) and Joseph Melto Quiah (3rd round - 2024).

Prior to his time in Dayton, Ohio, Lyons spent the 2022 season with Virginia men’s soccer.

He helped guide the team to a 10-4-5 record overall and 5-1-2 mark in the ACC. The Cavaliers advanced to the ACC semifinals before earning an NCAA Tournament bid as the No. 4 overall seed.

While at Virginia, he worked closely with Leo Afanso who currently plays for MLS side Atlanta United and 2022 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Andreas Ueland. Ueland was also a third-round pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft .

Before his time in Charlottesville, Virginia, Lyons spent two years with Skyline Elite in the ECNL after a professional career overseas. He had stints in Brazil and Ireland before returning to the United States in 2017 to earn his degree from the University of Lynchburg. While there, he began his coaching career at Jefferson Forest High School, leading his team to its first state final since 2010.

Lyons and his wife, Abigael, have two daughters, Kai and Rowyn.