The last time FC Tulsa made the playoffs was 2021, when they were a member of the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference. Back then, the league had 31 teams spanning from Tacoma to Atlanta. The USL looks fundamentally different these days, but there’s been one constant: Tulsa hasn’t been very good.
The club won just 31 of 102 league matches in the intervening three years, never finishing higher than eighth place. Four coaches and multiple front office executives came and went. Not for a lack of trying, FC Tulsa couldn’t get it together.
That’s changing in 2025. Under head coach Luke Spencer and sporting director Caleb Sewell, this club is currently leading the Western Conference. Tulsa has an outside chance at a Players’ Shield bid and feels ready for a playoff run.
How did FC Tulsa turn it around? In conversation with Backheeled, Spencer and defender Arthur Rogers discussed the changes that’ve turned Tulsa into a contender.
“Luke has done a really good job of getting 22 guys all to buy into the same thing. Whether you like the brand of football, you don't like the brand of football, it doesn't matter. You look across to the guy next to you and you know that they're doing that,” asserted Rogers. “I think in the USL in general, there's no one way to win. It's more about the teams that are very collective, they usually do better.”
