Louisville City just announced that the club’s first ever head coach, James O’Connor, will be returning to the club’s ownership group as Executive Vice President of Development. O’Connor will not be serving the club in a coaching capacity, but will instead help build up the structures around Louisville City’s boys academy system and still-to-be-officially-announced USL League 2 team, plus starting at the roots and building the technical structure for the group’s NWSL side, which debuts in 2021.
O’Connor led Louisville City for the club’s first three and half years of USL competition, winning the 2017 USL Cup before leaving in the middle of the 2018 season to become coach of MLS’s Orlando City SC. His tenure there was a struggle in comparison to the success he had at Louisville City, however. O’Connor compiled a middling record with the Lions, missing the playoffs in 2018 and remaining below the line before he was fired in the middle of the season. A good part of that seems to have been the result of difficulties in the OCSC front office, a mismatched team roster and ownership, which is much different than it was when the Irishman ended his playing career in Orlando in 2014. Many commented that O’Connor never really got a fair shake at the helm, which is an oft-repeated refrain about any coach OCSC has hired since joining the US’s top flight.
I have to admit that my mind is absolutely blown by this news, for several reasons. First, I knew O’Connor had returned to Louisville to finish a remodel on the home that he and his family had purchased while he was still coaching Louisville City. I presumed he was biding his time before accepting a new head coaching position either somewhere else in the USL, or MLS, or even back in Europe. He’s still getting compensation or a severance from his Orlando City contract, I presume, since he was terminated without cause before the contract expired. I was under the impression that his exit from Louisville City just over 18 months ago was a bit acrimonious, given that it was sudden, unexpected and left the front office and club ownership in a real lurch before John Hackworth came on board. So, no, I absolutely did not expect to ever see James O’Connor in Louisville City purple and gold (or black and gray) ever again.
But I’m ecstatic that he’s back. Anyone who’s ever worked with JOC knows that he’s the hardest working guy in the game. He’s got an amazing eye for talent. And, given that he had near complete control over the sporting side of Louisville City while he was with the club as coach, he’s got a more than proven track record for building up a successful organization with a winning, nay, championship mindset.
O’Connor built up good relationships with youth clubs all over the city while he was here, and those have only been enhanced by Mario Sanchez, if largely behind the scenes. An academy program is a big building block in any successful professional soccer organization, and from what I can tell, the club is going about it the right way for both the men’s and women’s sides.
Long story short, I’m surprised and excited that James is going to be back in the fold. Let’s all be sure to welcome him back, and get pumped about the future of soccer in Louisville!
