Keelan Barker, a key figure in Fort Wayne Football Club’s past success, will remain as assistant coach for the team’s first season in pro soccer.
“I couldn’t be happier to continue with the club as it makes the jump into the professional ranks,” Barker said. “I have witnessed all the work that has been put in over the years to get to this point, now I just cannot wait to get the lads in and get to work!”
Barker, 31, spent the last two seasons as the men’s soccer head coach at Indiana Institute of Technology, a school based in downtown Fort Wayne that is a national power at the NAIA level.
“A tenet of leadership that I firmly believe in is that if I find myself being the smartest guy in the room, I’m probably in the wrong room,” Fort Wayne FC head coach Mike Avery said. “If we are going to be successful, I need to attract the best and the brightest people to partner with us. We aim to do that with the players we bring on board, and I certainly try to do that with the staff I hire. A shining example of that is Keelan Barker. Keelan is an immensely talented coach who has made significant contributions to our past successes, and I am delighted that he will help lead the group into a successful future.”
Barker, 31, began with Fort Wayne FC as a volunteer assistant in 2021 before joining the staff formally the next season. He helped Avery guide the club to division titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and to the conference semifinals in 2024 and 2025.
“Keelan is both a great student of the game and a great teacher of the game,” Avery said. “His influence on the clear playing identity we have built over the last few years is easily seen, and his ability to effectively communicate with the players has allowed us to create a bond between players and staff that has been essential to our growth.
“Most importantly, Keelan is a man of great integrity, someone who puts his family and his important relationships first, and these traits provide a great model to our players and to the rest of the club staff. I, for one, count myself as very fortunate to have Keelan on my side as we enter into this next chapter of the club’s history.”
Fort Wayne FC season tickets are currently on sale. The club’s first season in professional soccer begins March 7 against FC Naples in Naples, Florida, while the first home match at new Fort Wayne FC Park will be May 2 against the Charlotte Independence.
A native of Nottingham, England, Barker played for Purdue Fort Wayne and was a team captain before graduating in 2018. Prior to PFW, Barker played at Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, Kansas, and captained the team to its first national tournament appearance.
His coaching career began as an assistant for two years at Eastern Oregon University, helping the team to its first ever postseason berth, before he joined Coffeyville CC’s staff in 2020. He was an assistant coach with the men’s and women’s teams before becoming the men’s head coach in 2022.
Barker was hired as an assistant coach at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 2023, then accepted the men’s head coaching position at Indiana Tech in 2024.
Under his guidance, the Warriors went 31-7-6, won two Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament titles, reached back-to-back NAIA Tournaments, and qualified for the 2025 National Tournament Quarterfinals.
Barker lives in Fort Wayne with his wife, Elizabeth, and daughters, Amiya and Lyla.
About Fort Wayne Football Club
Fort Wayne Football Club, founded in 2019, is a professional soccer club playing its first season in USL League One in 2026. The club is building a state-of-the-art, soccer-specific stadium, Fort Wayne FC Park, that will open at Bass Road and I-69 in 2026. In pre-professional USL League Two, Fort Wayne Football Club won division titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025. For more information, visit FortWayneFC.com.
About United Soccer League
Founded in 1986, the United Soccer League (USL) is the largest and fastest-growing soccer organization in the United States, impacting more than 200 communities nationwide. The USL is the first and only organization to offer a comprehensive youth-to-professional pathway for both men and women under one ecosystem. This structure includes four men’s leagues: the newly announced, top-tier professional Division I league, the USL Championship (Division II), USL League One (Division III), and USL League Two (pre-professional). The women’s pathway includes the top-tier USL Super League (Division I), which debuted in 2024, and USL W League, the country’s leading pre-professional women’s league. The USL also oversees USL Academy, a progressive talent development platform, and USL Youth, a premier national youth platform.