The soccer world in Auburn will not be the same come August as Auburn Mountainview High School boys and girls soccer head coach Joey West is stepping down from his position, as his wife, Susie, announced in a social media post June 27.

West is also stepping down from his position as academic dean at Auburn Mountainview to take a job as a PE teacher at Auburn Riverside. But most importantly, he wanted time to coach his kids — something he hasn’t been able to do.

Over the past 15 years, West has been coaching on and off on the boys and girls side, with his first gig as an assistant coach starting with the boys in 2010, and girls JV in the fall of 2010. He was handed the keys to the girls team in 2016, and stepped down in 2019, then came back to coach post-COVID. For the boys, he was the head coach in 2016 and came back to coach in 2019 from there on.

“I just loved the camaraderie and creating a culture. Creating a healthy culture where the kids can play to the best of their ability,” West said. “Auburn Mountainview soccer has meant a lot to me. My kids grew up coming to all the games. It’s definitely going to be a hard transition. It’s going to be sad to leave. But I am excited to start this new chapter.”

West had been at the helm for some incredible Lion seasons the past two years, taking the number 17 seed and 15 seed in back-to-back years to the final four. He won a school record 19 games this past season in what would be his final season for the Lions.

Over his tenure, West recorded over 100 wins as head coach of the boys team. As the boys coach, he took the Lions to a third-place finish in 2025, the school’s best finish ever. Since he took over the program, the Lions went to the state tournament eight times — four more than Auburn and Auburn Riverside combined in that time frame.

On the girls side, West took the Lions to four state tournaments, winning the school’s first ever girls state tournament game against Shorecrest in 2013.

Auburn Mountainview Athletic Director Chris Carr had this to say about West: “Joey has elevated both the boys’ and girls’ programs on the field to a level that will be hard to follow. We will miss his soccer knowledge and guidance to our young men and women.”

West was a champion of creating a culture as well, especially coming out of the pandemic, when the Lions’ soccer culture was more important than the play on the field to West. This past season, the Lion boys were the easiest group West ever had, he told The Reporter multiple times. When talking to his current players, those conversations were not easy ones to have.

“I told them before the banquet, I didn’t want them to hear it from somebody else. Those conversations were really hard,” West said.

West and his wife, Susie, are heavily involved with the Auburn Young Life Group and have been making a noticeable impact on kids’ lives for a long time.

“But more than anything, we’ve been committed to the Lord,” Susie West said in a post on Instagram. “And He’s made it clear: it’s time to go. It’s been hard. It’s been holy. It’s been bittersweet.”

West does return to familiar grounds off Oravetz Road. West was in the graduating class of 2002 at Auburn Riverside and was on their first ever final four team back in 2002. There is no indication if West will coach in some capacity for the Ravens, but the Lions’ search for a head coach in the girls season will commence now.

“I’m going to focus on family time right now. I would love to help out eventually, but there is no plan to coach,” West said.