Tyler Heaps

Tyler Heaps (born April 21, 1991) is an American soccer executive and former player who is the sporting director of Major League Soccer club San Diego FC. Heaps played college soccer for the North Park Vikings and the Augsburg Auggies before spending a stint with the Minnesota United Reserves. He has previously worked as the head of analytics for the United States Soccer Federation and AS Monaco, and as the head of recruitment and insight for the Right to Dream Academy.

Early life Heaps grew up in the eastern part of Saint Paul, Minnesota, as the youngest of five children raised by single mother Paula Heaps. Money was often tight in the Heaps household, with Heaps having to work concessions at Minnesota Twins games as a child alongside his mother in order to collect enough money for club soccer. Heaps attended DeLaSalle High School, where he was an all-conference honoree in each of his four years of soccer. He also spent two years playing football, two years participating in track and three years playing basketball. He graduated as a member of the National Honor Society. He transferred to Augsburg University ahead of the 2010 season and spent the remaining three years of his collegiate career as a defender for the Auggies. He eventually rose to become the USSF's head of analytics, working with both the United States men's national team and women's national team; part of his responsibilities included coding and building player evaluation algorithms. He was an analyst for the women's national team that won the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. His efforts helped the club twice qualify for the UEFA Europa League and end the 2021–22 season in third place despite having finished in 17th the year prior. announced the appointment of Heaps as the club's sporting director and general manager. Heaps, 33 years old at the time of his hiring, became the youngest sporting director in the MLS. He proceeded to orchestrate the construction of San Diego FC's inaugural roster and soccer operations department, including the appointment of head coach Mikey Varas. In February 2026, Heaps signed a three-year contract extension with the club, lasting until 2029.

Personal life Heaps graduated from Augsburg University with a major in mathematics and minor in computer science. He had initially planned on studying chemistry, but soon discovered a dislike for the subject and switched majors. They met when he was an employee of US Soccer and had to fill in as a player during a USWNT training session.