University of South Carolina (Upstate)

"Coach Sharif has had a huge impact on my career. Years ago, when I was a GA, we met at a game after he heard me talking with some other coaches on the sideline. He introduced himself, we started talking, and he's been in my corner ever since. I was just a young coach trying to figure things out and he took the time to help me without me ever asking. Since then he's connected me with people, helped me get multiple coaching jobs, answered random calls and texts when I needed advice, helped me negotiate contracts, and has always wanted to see me succeed. He's never expected anything in return. He just genuinely enjoys helping people succeed. I honestly don't think I'd be where I am today without his mentorship. Having someone believe in you that early in your career makes a bigger difference than people realize. I'll always be grateful for everything he's done for me and I hope every coach gets someone in their corner the way I did with him."

"There are people who teach you how to play a sport and then there are people who change the way you see yourself. Sharif is the second one. I still think about the day I was ready to give up after one of the hardest seasons of my life. You looked at me and said, "Don't let one moment decide who you become." I carried those words into every practice, every game, and honestly into life outside of soccer too. Thank you for believing in me before I fully believed in myself and for showing me what resilience really looks like. I'll always be grateful for the impact you've had on my life."

"Just gotta give a big shoutout to Coach Sharif. This summer was honestly a total game-changer for me. It was my first time working with him and he really helped me build so much confidence I didn’t even know I had. Since I got back to my DI program, my coaches keep telling me how good I’m looking in pre-season and honestly, I owe a lot of that to Sharif. He’s one of the best out there no doubt. I see why he won so much and I definitely wish he was my college coach, but I’m just real grateful for what he’s done for me."

"Sharif was by FAR the best coach I ever had at UMO. He cared deeply about us and helped us grow as players and people. When he first got to UMO he came in as a hard a*s not going to lie but we quickly got him to let his guard down. There were was an instance that resulted in campus safety getting involved and he had every right to still make us train in the morning but saw us as human beings and sent us home and spent MONTHS checking in on us. He is honestly the only coach I ever had that I felt comfortable sharing things with. To this day I still have a relationship with i’m because he was genuinely the BEST coach I ever had. "

"Love this guy. Coach Saber is one of the few coaches I've had who actually cared about us as people not just as athletes. He was always looking out for our grades and making sure we were handling business outside of our sport too. What really showed me the kind of person he is was during the hurricane in September 2024. We lost power the school didn't have food for us for two days and everybody was just trying to figure things out. Coach had the whole team come over to his house with whatever food we had left and grilled everything so nobody went hungry. He made sure we had food and water and as far as I know we were the only team being taken care of until the school finally got everything together. He also checked in with us on mental health days and actually meant it. It wasn't just something he had to do. He wanted to know how we were doing and would make sure we knew where all the school resources were for help. On top of all that he's an incredible coach. I improved more playing for him than I ever had before. He pushed us hard but always had our backs. I'd play for Coach Saber again in a heartbeat."