Oliver Twelvetrees enters his second season leading the Eagles in 2026 after being named the third head coach in program history in December 2024.
Oliver Twelvetrees kicked off his FGCU tenure in 2025 with a 2-1 win at SIUE on August 21, sparked by a two-goal game from Caio Oliveira. The season went on to produce a 6-7-3 overall record and a 2-3-1 mark in the ASUN. Along the way, FGCU picked up wins over Memphis (3-1), Florida Memorial (4-0), and Houston Christian (2-0), plus 1-0 shutout victories over conference rivals North Florida and Stetson. The Eagles also picked up a draw against a No. 18-ranked Gardner-Webb squad, a result punctuated by Victor Lopes' goal that landed on SportsCenter's Top 10 as the night's No. 3 play. Twelvetrees' squad produced a steady run of weekly conference recognition too: Oliveira, Edson Murguia, and Salvador Martinez each earned ASUN Player of the Week honors, Lopes was tabbed ASUN Defensive Player of the Week twice with Ignatius DeMark adding a third, and Oliver Weng was named ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week.
That individual success carried into the season awards, as Oliveira and Lopes were both named to the All-ASUN Second Team. Oliveira closed the year with five goals and three assists, starting all 16 matches and ranking second on the roster with 1,246 minutes played; his five goals tied for third in the ASUN and led the Eagles outright. Lopes anchored the backline for all 16 starts and led the team with 1,396 minutes, playing the full 90 in 14 of those matches, and he added an assist in the win over Jacksonville on October 11. The Eagles shined in the classroom as well, with Lopes, Linus Dahl, Shachar Nissim, and Arber Shala earning ASUN All-Academic Team honors, while Oliveira and Lopes doubled up with CSC Academic All-District Team recognition.
Twelvetrees came to FGCU with a winning pedigree, having led Colorado State University-Pueblo to the NCAA Division II national semifinals in each of the last three seasons and the national championship match in 2023 and 2022. In his five seasons with the ThunderWolves, Twelvetrees posted a 74-21-12 record. He led his squad to 15 or more wins in each of his last four seasons and departed with the fourth-best winning percentage among active coaches in NCAA D-II.
The 2024 season saw Twelvetrees named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Coach of the Year. Caio Oliveira would be named RMAC Offensive Player of the Year to start his list of post-season accolades for 2024. Oliveira would join RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Shjon Andrews as a Division II Conference Commissioner's Association All-American. Oliveira would also earn United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American status, marking the third time in CSU-Pueblo history that a member of the ThunderWolves was a United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American.
The posting at FGCU marked a coaching return to the Sunshine State for Twelvetrees. In 2013, he started the program at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. Competing in the NJCAA, EFSC finished as either conference, region or district champions and finished ranked in the final NJCAA Top 10. His squad finished second in 2019 and third in 2015 and 2018. Also while at EFSC, Twelvetrees produced 14 NJCAA All-Americans and nine United Soccer Coaches All-Americans.
Prior to Eastern Florida State, Twelvetrees was the head coach for seven seasons at Barton Community College. He posted an overall record of 124-20-5 (.849) in his time at Barton with four conference championships, four Region VI championships, and two district championships. Twelvetrees saw his side finish in the Top 15 of the rankings with at least one All-American each year. More than half of his student-athletes would move on to play at four-year institutions.
"My coaching philosophy is based on a team first environment and tactical discipline within a high performance culture," Twelvetrees said.
Twelvetrees started his head collegiate coaching career on the women's side at Wayne State College. He coached at Wayne State for two seasons, posting a 9-9-3 record in his second year at the helm. Twelvetrees' first assistant coaching position in college was as a graduate assistant for the women's soccer program at Bemidji State University.
FGCU's head coach is a native of Swansea, Wales. He played soccer for Swansea College and at the University of Brighton. He graduated from Brighton in 1999, then earned his master's degree from Bemidji State.
Twelvetrees holds a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Premier Diploma and a USSF B License.
