Last week the USL recognized Louisville City FC’s head coach James O’Connor as one of the top five head coaches in the league.
With the end of the season quickly approaching it’s time to figure out which coach deserves the right to be called USL Coach of the Year. The USL put together a list of five coaches that proved to play a major role in their team’s success
James O’Connor signed on to LouCity as head coach back on June 4, 2014 that was later followed by two successful seasons—currently a third. Since the team has entered the USL, they have racked up more goals, assists and points than any other club. O’Connor had the privilege of coaching 2015 USL MVP (Matt Fondy), Defensive Player of the Year (Bryan Burke), 2016 Midseason MVP (Chandler Hoffman), and currently 2016 USL Midseason Rookie of the Year awarded to Kyle Smith—who signed at open tryouts.
The Irishman’s soccer story goes back to 1996-2003 when he played for the English side of Stoke City where he tallied 16 goals and 176 appearances. The midfielder also played for West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday in England before making his way to Orlando City SC, where he ended his career as a player. Before O’Connor was named head coach of LouCity, he won both regular-season and playoff titles with Orlando City.
On Sept. 27, 2017 O’Connor and his boys in purple clinched No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and currently leads goals scored as they approach the playoffs with only two games left in the regular season.
Players like Luke Spencer and Oscar Jimenez are proof of O’Connors detail on and off the field as we witness their break out season in their first year with the club. LouCity also has three players called up to international duty (Devon “Speedy” Williams-Jamaica, Greg Ranjitsingh-Trinidad and Tobago and Mark-Anthony Kaye- Canada) to attest to the players development and the coach’s dedication.
Recently, at a Metro Council Meeting on Oct. 3 looking to get votes on the stadium development project, the head coach confidently took the microphone to tell the committee how proud he was to coach the 20 men on his squad and that he considers each and everyone of them as his son.
Visit the USL website (http://bit.ly/2kmWfrO) or on social media to comment on why you believe James O’Connor should win the award of USL Head Coach of the Year.
