What makes a USL manager an attractive candidate for an MLS job?
With Louisville City’s Danny Cruz, the longest-tenured and most decorated coach in the second-division USL Championship, making the jump to an assistant job with Minnesota United last week, it’s a question with renewed prominence.
Perhaps above all else, existing MLS ties matter.
It’s extremely rare for a lower-league coach to jump into a head job in the first division, and the exceptions – think Eric Quill in Dallas or, much further back, James O’Connor in Orlando – were previously part of the organization that hired them. Even when a coach takes an assistant job, bringing an MLS network to the table is still a massive help. Cruz played in MLS and even featured for Minnesota United at the end of his playing career. Blair Gavin played in MLS, served under Caleb Porter in Columbus, spent a year managing FC Tulsa in the USL, and then re-joined Porter’s staff in New England.
Winning also matters. Cruz earned more than two points per game in Louisville, hoisting the Players’ Shield in each of his final two seasons. When Juan Guerra earned an assistant role in Houston, it came in the wake of a trophy-winning season in Phoenix. Brendan Burke broke a four-year playoff drought and turned Colorado Springs into a perennial contender before his own move to the Dynamo.
