PENSACOLA, Fla. – UWF women's soccer coach Joe Bartlinski has named Mohammed El-Zare as the team's new assistant coach following the retirement of former assistant coach Ron Celestin.
 
El-Zare arrives in Pensacola after 13 seasons as the women's soccer head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi, a position he assumed in December 2012.
 
"Coach Mohammed is a player's coach," said Bartlinski. "He's here for their personal and player development. With his vast experience and knowledge, I feel that he can help continue to take this program in a positive direction. I would be remiss without saying a big thank you to Coach Ronnie and his wife Annette, for all the great effort they put in. The two seasons that Ronnie was here, we won two conference championships, regular season and conference tournament championships, and a region championship. And our team GPA remained consistently over a 3.5."
 
"I'm extremely thrilled to be at the University of West Florida, especially working with Coach Bartlinski, who is a seasoned veteran and well respected in the game," said El-Zare. "It's an honor to be coaching the Argos. I look forward to serving our student-athletes, UWF, and the community." 
 
El-Zare led the Golden Eagles to their first Conference USA West Division Championship in 2021. They made it to the championship final in the same year. In 2018, El-Zare led Southern Miss to its first ever Conference USA Tournament Final appearance with a 13-6-1 record. During his fourth season as head coach, he led the team to its first winning season since 2003. The team finished 8-7-2.
 
Before Southern Miss, El-Zare led the Mobile Soccer Club as its Director of Coaching since 2007. During this time, he also assisted the University of Mobile men's soccer team and the University of South Alabama women's soccer team (2002-11). In 2011, he helped lead Mobile to the 2011 Southern States Athletic Conference Championship. While in Alabama, El-Zare also worked with the Olympic Development Program of the Alabama Youth Soccer Association.
 
El-Zare also spent two years as an assistant coach for FIU women's soccer.
During his playing career, he spent time with the Florida Stars of the USISL in Miami and the Al-Kuroom Vineyard F.C. in Alexandria, Egypt. He graduated from Lincoln Memorial with a degree in Athletic Training and Physical Education in 1992, where he was a student-athlete as well.