Raphael Cox - Women's Soccer Coach - University of Washington Athletics

Northwestern

Sep 18 (Thu)

7:00 p.m. PT

Raphael Cox

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
raphcox@uw.edu

A former player and coach for the Washington men's soccer team, Raphael Cox returned to Montlake ahead of the 2023 season as a member of Nicole Van Dyke's staff as an assistant coach. Spending two seasons with the UW women, Cox works with the Husky attacking unit and assists with recruiting, practice planning and opposition scouting.

During his coaching career, Cox has helped several players advance to the professional ranks, including many to Major League Soccer careers. Those including Ethan Bartlow, Blake Bodily, Kendall Burks, Jacob Castro, Nate Jones, Freddy Kleeman, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Lucas Meek, Gio Miglietti, Ilijah Paul, Achille Robin, Ryan Sailor and Jaret Townsend.

After a successful first season, Washington doubled down in year two with Cox on staff. The Huskies registered a 10-7-4 overall record, finishing tied for fifth in the Big Ten on points with a 7-4-0 league record. The Huskies excelled in postseason play, advancing to the Semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament and reaching the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

Under Cox direction, senior striker Ioanna Papatheodorou scored eight goals, including five match winners en route to a First Team All-Big Ten selection. Papatheodorou's season was highlighted by a pair of free kick wondergoals that earned UW a 2-1 win over No. 5 Michigan State at Husky Soccer Stadium. After the performance, the Greek international was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, earned a spot on TopDrawerSoccer's Team of the Week and was tabbed the NCAA National Player of the Week.

The Huskies featured a deep attack, with 10 different players recording a goal, including four multi-goal scorers. In addition to Papatheodorou, sophomore Samiah Shell also emerged as a prime time scorer for UW, bagging five goals after a scoreless freshman season in 2023. Shell also registered three assists, leading a group of 10 Huskies with at least one assist.

During Cox's first season back on Montlake, Washington posted a 9-5-5 record. Finishing the season with 31 total goals, the Husky lineup found its scoring in a variety of different places. Tatum Thomason paced UW with six goals, while Kelsey Branson, Ioanna Papatheodorou and Hailey Still were all close behind with four. Overall, 12 different players found the back of the net, with 23 goals coming from underclassmen.

22 of the 31 goals scored by Washington included at least one assist, with Jace Holmes leading the way with seven helpers on the campaign, all of which came in Pac-12 play.

Cox returned to his alma mater after one season as an assistant coach for the men’s soccer program at San Diego State. During his lone season in Southern California, Cox helped the Aztecs to a 5-9-4 record, including wins over No. 6 Denver and Oregon State as well as draws against No. 2 Stanford and No. 7 Creighton, which went on to make the Men’s College Cup.

At SDSU, Cox was tasked with conducting player development meetings and leading the Aztec’s pregame warmups. Cox also assisted with all aspects of recruiting for SDSU, including managing the NCAA Transfer Portal. Additionally, Cox served as SDSU’s community outreach director.

Before joining the Aztec staff, Cox spent three seasons on Jamie Clark’s staff at Washington as volunteer assistant coach from 2019-21. During that stretch, the Husky men made three straight NCAA quarterfinal appearances, highlighted by 2021’s trip to the College Cup Final.

During those three seasons, the Huskies never finished lower than second in the Pac-12 table, capturing the league championship in 2019.

Outside of the college ranks, Cox has been a staple in the Seattle and greater Washington soccer community. He was an EPD head coach with Washington State Youth Soccer for three years and also served as a regional director and ECNL head coach with Seattle United FC for four years.

Cox cut his college coaching teeth with Highline College in Des Moines, Washington, spending three seasons as associate head coach for the 2016-18 seasons.

As a player, Cox was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection at UW where he played from 2006-2008. After graduating, Cox was selected in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft by Real Salt Lake, where he was part of the MLS Cup Champion squad in 2009.

Cox played with several NASL and USL teams from 2011-15 including winning an NASL Title with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2012. He has spent the last three seasons as a part of the Tacoma Stars of the MASL, scoring 29 goals in 48 career matches, and served as the Stars' youth program director.

Cox graduated from Washington in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He also received an associate’s degree in 2006 from Highline College. He and his wife, Rachel, have two sons, Maxwell and Lennox.