PORTALES, N.M. - Head football coach Kelley Lee announced Oliver Soukup is coming back to Portales as the program's defensive coordinator after spending the past eight seasons at New Mexico State and Carlsbad High School.

Lee and Soukup coached together at ENMU from 2012-2015.

"Coach Soukup is one of the finest coaches I have ever worked with and we are ecstatic to have him back coordinating our defense," said head coach Kelley Lee. "I am so excited that our players get to be coached and mentored by such an outstanding individual."

He spent the 2022 season as the head coach for the Cavemen taking the program to the NMAA playoffs and coaching five NMHSCA All-State honorees.

Prior to his time in Carlsbad, he served as Assistant Head Coach at NMSU from 2015-2021. In Las Cruces, he established the 3-4 and 4-3 defenses while being named a finalist for the 2019 National Linebacker Coach of the Year. In 2017, the program won the Arizona Bowl – the team's first bowl appearance since 1960.

Soukup was at Eastern from 2012-2015 where he was the defensive coordinator responsible for the defensive line (2012-2013) and linebackers (2014). He helped the Greyhounds run a 3-4 package and was part of the coaching staff that led the team to become LSC champions in 2013. ENMU's defense ranked among the best in the conference with most statistical categories at the No. 1 spot during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

In 2011, he served as the special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at the New Mexico Military Institute and took the team to the Heart of Texas Bowl.

Soukup started at Concordia University-St. Paul as the defensive line and strength & conditioning coordinator in 2004 before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2005. He guided the Golden Bears to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title in 2004 and to two of the school's three postseason appearances (2005 and 2010). At CU, Soukup coached three All-Americans, seven All-Region selections and 14 First Team All-NSIC honorees. He earned a master's in sports administration from Concordia.

A former defensive lineman at New Mexico State, Soukup was a team captain and received All-Big West recognition for his play during the 2000 season. He was named to the Progressive All-American Farm Team as a senior.

Soukup earned his bachelor's in family and child science from NM State in 2002. He is married to Kristen Soukup and they have four children: Kooper, Chance, Mack, and Tripp.