Boys Coaches
Paul Dowell
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Paul: Coach Dowell joined the BSC program in the spring of 2021, coaching in the boys YDP program. Before joining Bethesda, Paul served as the Girls Varsity Head Coach at Gaithersburg High School for eight years and as the Girls Junior Varsity Head Coach at Sherwood High School for four years. He has also coached at BSC Academy Coach Kert Mease’s Golden Goal Academy for the past 15 years. As a player, he was a four-year starter at Frostburg State University. Paul has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and Teaching from Frostburg and a Master’s Degree in Educational/Instructional Training at Johns Hopkins University.
Email: pdowell@bethesdasoccer.org
Mike Montross
U16 and U17 Boys Academy Assistant Coach
Coach Montross will be joining the BSC program for the 2020-2021 fall season, assisting our Academy Program as they begin play in the MLS Developmental League.
Mike has a lengthy history working at the highest levels in college soccer. He is currently an Assistant Coach at American University.
In his first season at American, Montross oversaw a rebuilding team that picked up three Patriot League wins and was competitive in every other league contest. He coached one Academic All-Patriot League player (Tim Neumann) and a league-best 20 members of the PL Academic Honor Roll in 2019.
At Villanova, Montross was promoted from an assistant coach to associate head coach during his four seasons. He helped with all aspects of the program including recruiting, practice planning, video analysis, player development as well as academic success. During the 2016 season, the Wildcats appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and finished the season with their highest RPI. On the recruiting trails, Montross was part of the first two (2016, 2017) top-20 ranked classes in program history.
Additionally, he coached and helped develop multiple award winners on and off the field. This included six players named to the All-Big East teams, three named to the All-Big East Freshman team, and three players named to the NSCAA/United Soccer Coaches All Region Team as well as multiple All Big East academic award recipients.
No stranger to the Patriot League, Montross spent two seasons at Lehigh (2013-14) where he helped the Mountain Hawks make the second highest RPI jump of any Division I program (from No. 187 to No. 78) and recorded double-digit victories for the first time since 2006. He coached and recruited multiple All-League players as well as academic award recipients. In 2014, five players were named to the Patriot League All-Conference teams, one player to the Academic All-Patriot League team, and one player to the NSCAA All Region Team. In both of his years at Lehigh, the team earned the NSCAA team academic award.
While at Georgetown, the Hoyas posted the most single-season wins (19) in program history and earned a Big East Blue Division championship while advancing to the Finals of the NCAA College Cup. That year, Steve Neumann was a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and earned College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player, while Brandon Allen was named the Big East Rookie of the Year as well as the national rookie of the year by a number of outlets. That unit also featured two All-Americans as well as six All-Big East honorees. Academically, Keon Parsa was honored with the Elite 89 Award, given to the student-athlete at the College Cup with the highest GPA.
Throughout his coaching career, Montross has worked with and prepared 18 student-athletes that signed professional contracts or were drafted by the MLS.
Montross is a 2011 graduate of Dickinson College, where he earned four varsity letters and and captained the team as a senior. He helped lead his team to its first two conference and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008 and was also on the Dean’s List. The native of Bethesda, Md., received a degree in international business and management and minored in Spanish.
Pierre Dyer
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Pierre
Pierre joined the coaching staff in the 2021-2022 season. As a Bethesda Soccer Club player alum, Pierre went on to play DIII as a four-year starter at Swarthmore College. There, he won two conference championships and an ECAC championship and featured twice in the NCAA round of 16. He also played semi-professional soccer for NW London in England.
Pierre started coaching with two amateur teams in the Boston and London area before returning to DC and rejoining BSC as a coach.
Pierre obtained his coaching ‘B’ license. He has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the London Business School and a Bachelor’s in Economics from Swarthmore College.
Email: pdyer@bethesdasoccer.org
Jason Harris
Director of Scouting
Jason has spent the past two years coaching for the Largo High School Boys Varsity team. In his first season as Assistant Coach, his team made it to the 1A Regional Championship, and in his second season, as Head Coach, they advanced to the regional semifinals. Jason played his club soccer at numerous academies across Maryland but is proud to be Bethesda alumni as a member of the Bethesda Mavericks. In addition, he was a four-year varsity high school player at both St. Johns College High and Bowie High School.
Jason has primarily worked within the Youth Development Program and with our Soccer Juniors Clinic but will be coaching our U17 White team in 2020-2021. He currently holds a USSF National ‘D’ Coaches License and is currently working on his ‘C’ License for USSF and UEFA. He aims to continue his soccer education with the hope of coaching at the highest level or becoming a scout.
Email: jharris@bethesdasoccer.org
Daniel Akinkoye
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Daniel: Daniel Akinkoye is entering his third season as a head coach at BSC. A player Daniel played with the #1 nationally ranked Olney Rangers, Potomac U-16, and DC United’s U-18 academy. These club experiences allowed him to play with and against current professional players and exposed him to top NCAA D1 programs before landing home at American University. Daniel spent the past spring season training in Germany with professional club SC Paderborn and other German clubs. In addition to working at BSC, he also serves as a coach at Forza Soccer School. He has enjoyed coaching players from ages 5-14 at the Bullis Soccer Academy for the last 9 years and currently holds a USSF National ‘D’ Coaches License.
Email: dakinkoye@bethesdasoccer.org
Tyler Martin
Bethesda SC Head Coach, BSC Summer Camp Director
Coach Tyler is in his second full season as a BSC head coach after joining the club at the start of the 2019-2020 season. Tyler has been with Bethesda since he was seven years old. His understanding of the club’s goals and expectations is high. He has spent many summers with the club working at camps and will continue for summers to come. Tyler graduated from Catholic University in the spring of 2019, receiving a Bachelors’s Degree in Elementary Education. He currently holds a USSF National ‘D’ Coaches License.
As previously mentioned Tyler is an alumnus of the Bethesda Soccer Club. After his youth career, Tyler went on to play four years at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and then four years at Catholic University of America. At BCC, he received honorary mentions from The Gazette and helped the team to multiple competitive seasons. On both teams, Tyler was named to leadership roles and helped the younger players become more accustomed to the team.
Email: tylermartin@bethesdasoccer.org
Damar Bess
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Damar: Coach Bess joined BSC in the winter of 2018 and has primarily worked within the Youth Development Program and with our Soccer Juniors Clinic. He currently holds a USSF National ‘D’ Coaches License and is currently working on his ‘C’ License for USSF and UEFA.
Coach Bess is also on the path of working to become a professional first-team coach with ambitions of coaching in the Champions League
Email: dbess@bethesdasoccer.org
Mustapha Minteh
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Mustapha: Coach Minteh has over 20 years of diverse coaching experience at the High School, Select, and Classic levels. He has worked with Peter Bonde who is the former Technical Director for the Danish Football Association, is a member of UEFA’s Technical instructor’s panel, and was an assistant coach at the 2002 World Cup. Minteh’s coaching strength is the ability to guide each player to get better by focusing on technique, tactic, physiological, and physical aspects of the game.
His coaching experience in girl’s soccer includes finishing as a Maryland State Cup Semi-Finalist in 2011, President Cup Regional Semi-Finalist in 2010, the Bethesda Thanksgiving Tournament Champions in 2010, the Discovery Soccer League Indoor Champions 2009 among many other accolades.
As a player, Mustapha was capped for the Gambian National Team and served as their captain for multiple appearances.
Mustapha currently holds a state ‘D’ license, a USSF ‘C’ License, and an NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma. He is also a member of the NSCAA.
Email: mminteh@bethesdasoccer.org
Dave Ungrady
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Dave: Coach Ungrady joins the Bethesda Soccer program after an extensive career both on the sidelines and in the press box as a coach, player, and journalist. He currently holds a USSF National ‘D’ Coaches License and has previously coached at Loudoun Soccer, D.C. Stoddert Academy, and St. Stephens/St. Agnes High School.
In addition to his work as a coach, Dave has worked for more than 30 years as a career journalist. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and USA Today, and on ESPN, CNN, NBC, and Voice of America. In 1997, he served as the play-by-play commentator for D.C. United. He is the author of four books on sports and is the founder of the Born Ready Project, which teaches life skills to teenagers and young adults. He is a school teacher in the Loudoun County Public School system.
Dave is a graduate of the University of Maryland-College Park, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and was a member of their soccer and track and field teams. After his collegiate career ended, he played professionally for the North Virginia Royals in the United Soccer Leagues D3 Pro League. Dave is also a member of the Notre Dame High School (Trenton, N.J.) Athletics Hall of Fame.
Email: dungrady@bethesdasoccer.org
Michael Akinkoye
Bethesda SC Head Coach
About Michael: Coach Akinkoye returns to the BSC program as a Head Coach after an extensive playing career in college and at the professional level.
As a player, Michael grew up in the Bethesda program and was a member of the Rangers side that went undefeated and won the US Youth Soccer Regional Championship in 2012-2013. He would go on to play college soccer at James Madison University and at Saint Joseph’s University, where he was named to the Philadelphia Soccer Six All-Rookie Team in 2015. As a student-athlete in 2015, he was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and given the Dorie Leahy Award for the loyalty and dedication that he showed to his team. He was also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
After college Michael would go on to professionally for Evergreen FC in the Premier Development League and Christos FC, for who he currently plays. He has played for Potomac’s U-23 CCL team and was invited to train with MFM FC in the Nigerian Premier League.
As a coach he has previously worked as an Assistant Coach at Shenandoah Valley United and as a Soccer Camp Counselor at the Bullis School. He has also worked at summer camps for both SMU and JMU.
Email: makinkoye@bethesdasoccer.org