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SBI MLS Coach of the Year: Jesse Marsch

Photo by Geoff Burke/ USA Today Sports
Photo by Geoff Burke/ USA Today Sports

Before Jesse Marsch was even given the chance to lead his team onto the field, he was booed, ridiculed and demonized. Now, 11 months later, he has led the New York Red Bulls to a Supporters’ Shield, and as them looking like a real threat to win the club’s first MLS Cup title.

Marsch was far from a popular hire when first announced as Mike Petke’s replacement in January, but the former midfielder wasted little time in building a contender. Implementing a high-pressure system, Marsch led the Red Bulls to the Supporters’ Shield as well as a berth in the Eastern Conference finals to earn SBI MLS Coach of the Year honors.

Under Marsch’s leadership, the Red Bulls emerged as the league’s highest-scoring team, while also brandishing the Eastern Conference’s best defensive record. Leading a team with few proven international commodities, Marsch’s Red Bulls consistently outwitted and outplayed teams with significantly more talent and significantly larger budgets.

The Red Bulls head coach faced criticism and vitriol from Day One, and responded by getting his team to buy in to a system that has now led them to the precipice of an MLS Cup.

Here is a rundown of the other candidates for the SBI MLS Coach of the Year Award, as chosen by the SBI Editorial Staff:

2. OSCAR PAREJA

Oscar Pareja built FC Dallas on a foundation of youth, and that approach paid major dividends throughout 2015. Coaching one of the youngest teams in the league, Pareja led FC Dallas to the top seed out West, besting perennial powers like the LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders. Playing a free-flowing attacking style, Pareja’s FC Dallas has become of the league’s most fun, and most successful, teams as it enters the Western Conference Finals.

3. CARL ROBINSON

After finishing fifth in the West in 2014, the Vancouver Whitecaps leaped all the way to second in 2015, with plenty of credit due to head coach Carl Robinson. Placing faith in his young roster, Robinson’s Whitecaps emerged as the league’s best defensive team. Although the team’s season ended prematurely with a loss to the Portland Timbers, Robinson’s Whitecaps look poised to contend for years to come.

4. GREGG BERHALTER

After seeing his team thumped in the 2014 playoffs, Gregg Berhalter pushed all the right buttons for the Columbus Crew in 2015. With the acquisition of Kei Kamara, the Crew found the missing piece from 2014 while finishing second in the Eastern Conference. More impressive, though, was how Berhalter navigated the prolongued absence of Wil Trapp, keeping the Crew in contention throughout the regular season and throughout the playoffs.

5. MAURO BIELLO

Mauro Biello spent less than three months in charge of the Montreal Impact this season, but his team’s progress in that short period of time deserve special mention. Replacing the fired Frank Klopas, Biello’s Impact surged through the closing weeks of the season on the back of Didier Drogba. Overall, Biello earned 9-2-3 record in his 14 games in charge of the club.

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What do you think of SBI’s selection of Marsch as the Coach of the Year? Which coach do you think had the most impressive season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. It’s Papi for me…Marsch did very well but he had an arguably better quality side in the weaker half of the league…

    It’s like he and Oscar were in a foot race, but Jesse got to run on level ground in track shoes while Papi was running in steel toed boots uphill…and he still came within a nose of winning the Supporters’ Shield.

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  2. In retrospect, it turns out that while RBNY surely treated Petke unfairly in that he didn’t deserve to get fired, they unquestionably made the right decision for the team. We can never know for sure how Petke would have handled this roster, but there was nothing in his work as head coach that would lead you to conclude that he would have accomplished the same sort of tactical makeover. Petke was the right man for the job when he had it — he had the spine to handle Henry and Cahill, and the fire to keep the squad together. But it is equally true that Marsch was the right man for the job in the post-Henry era. Even Petke’s most passionate supporters have to acknowledge that RBNY’s roll of the dice has paid off handsomely.

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  3. If suppose so if you consider that he only had the team for 1 year. If this is regular season…

    But that doesn’t make sense to give it now as we’re weeks into the playoffs so why not wait and see if Oscar or Marsh goes on to win the Playoffs then we would know for sure.

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  4. Reason #213 the fans don’t always know more than the coach or organization.

    The amount of outrage with posters on SBI using Twitter hashtags “#RedBullOUT” throughout the season makes this pretty amusing. Of course, if you REALLY want amusement and validation that most fans don’t know anything – go back and watch the January Town Hall Meeting for NYRB with their supporters.

    There’s passion and there’s lunacy. That got cringe worthy.

    Reply
    • Old School,

      Fair enough,…but the point of the backlash was that Petke was not doing a bad job. So let me ask you this — what if Red Bulls lose a close semi-final match-up to Columbus and Red Bulls fire Marsh? What do you think the reaction would be? Disappointment? Outrage?

      Nevertheless, kudos to Marsh for pulling all the pieces together and delivering a fantastic season for the club.

      That said,…supporters of the club knew that was a really strong nucleas in Robles, McCarty, Sam and BWP. Perrinelle was in place and had a great season and Miazga matured in front of everyone’s eyes and simply got his chance out of necessity. I am not so sure managing all of that was beyond Petke. What put Red Bulls over the edge was the stunning performance of Mike Grella and the outstanding signing of Kemar Lawrence.

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    • From the beginning they didn’t object so much to Marsch as they did to Red Bull management, which is disliked on many levels. If you asked fans today how they felt I’m pretty sure they’d still rather have a different owner.

      Also, that town hall event was amusing but also understandable, based on elusive things that Curtis and co. said, and kept saying.. it really did sound like a lot of corporate marketing bs at first. He was extremely unlikeable at first, maybe still is but we don’t hear a lot from him anymore. But in hindsight that collective anger was the perfect motivation for this team who could no longer rely on a star player’s gifts. Public relations would serve no purpose, only their play on the field could save them. Petke got that ball rolling by benching Cahill, standing up to Henry, and constructing a spine of solid committed players in Robles, McCarty, Wright-Phillips. But it was Henry’s team and they lived and died by his play. In fact I’m not sure we really know how good a coach Petke is, or isn’t..

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  5. Management deserves a lot of credit for bringing in Sasha and Grella as well. Although Marsch put them out there in the right spots.

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  6. Well, I was one of those who thought Petke got screwed and the Red Bulls were making a big mistake. Marsch has definitely done an outstanding job and deserves the award. And credit also has to be given to the Red Bulls management who believed in Marsch and hired him despite Petke doing a good job. It was a gutsy and maybe even an unfair decision, but they have been vindicated.

    Reply

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