By RYAN TOLMICH
Gary Smith has had success in the United States before. As head coach of the Colorado Rapids, Smith led the club to its first major trophy with an MLS Cup victory in 2010.
Despite his MLS success, Smith left the American game in 2011 following disagreements regarding personnel decisions. More than three years later, Smith is back in the U.S. after accepting the role of head coach with the Atlanta Silverbacks.
Having made a stop to manage Stevenage in his native England in between U.S. jobs, Smith is looking forward to the opportunity to return stateside with a new head coaching role.
“There are a number of things that drew me back,” Smith told SBI on Thursday, “but most importantly, just purely because I think that soccer in general in the U.S. is still massively on the up and I enjoyed it hugely when I was here before. I looked for an opportunity to try and make that happen again. The Silverbacks were a wonderful opportunity to come back in and a wonderful city to come back to.”
Part of what drew Smith back was the idea of the NASL which, unlike MLS, gives Smith the freedom he enjoyed as a manager in England. As a foreigner, Smith was forced to navigate the generally ambiguous rulebook of MLS, albeit quite successfully.
With his move to NASL, Smith admits he already feels more comfortable with the methods of acquiring players in his new league. Having already begun the process of bringing in new talent, Smith is enjoying the lack of hurdles thrown at him by the league in assembling his team.
“I think when there’s a single entity, there’s always lots of questioning and issues to bring in players or move players,” Smith said, “but when you have that little bit more freedom, you can work more independently.
“It is a case of almost working as I was back in the UK, acting quickly, dealing with individual players, not having so many rules to try and run through. It is a format that I’m certainly more used to in the last three years.”
While the familiarity of the NASL’s independence proved to be a major plus, Smith admitted he was desperate to return to the U.S. to take advantage of the country’s weather and league schedule.
Having grown slightly tired of England’s famously less-then-stellar conditions, Smith is excited at the prospect of returning to coaching in a summer format. The former Rapids coach believes it is easier to work with players in the warm weather, meaning that the country’s schedule structure is more conducive to his ability to mold and develop talent.
“I think the way that the league is set up, where you work through the summer, is a strange concept but coaching, in general, always becomes a better development tool when you’re in better weather,” Smith said. “In the UK, you’re out there in the middle of January or February and it’s freezing cold and raining.
“It’s tough to coach players and improve players when you’re in that type of environment, so there’s one area that’s a big positive for U.S. soccer in general. Facilities, because of the climate and type of year that you’re working through, normally the facilities and the area that you’re working in is a lot more conducive to coaching players.”
Happy to act on his desire to return to the country, Smith is once again comfortable in a role of head coach in the United States. As someone who has experienced the game in both Europe and the U.S., Smith believes that American soccer has plenty to offer foreigners.
As MLS, the NASL and U.S. soccer as a whole continue to grow, Smith believes players from all over the world will look to migrate stateside to take part in the game’s expansion in the United States.
“I think there’s a number of things in the U.S. that will always be an allure,” Smith said, “not just for me, but for anybody that’s looking toward an environment that’s expanding, growing, getting stronger and competing even better as the seasons move on.
“There’s an awful lot going on at every level in U.S. soccer. MLS is attracting some real nice talents to the league. The NASL and USL are growing and getting stronger. Groups within those leagues are starting to expand and have better investment. “
So, help me out here. Each MLS team will need to own/work with a USL team, right? So, is there also an Atlanta Silverbacks in the USL?
Oh, I guess currently there isn’t a USL Pro team in Atlanta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USL_Pro#Current_clubs
But, MLS Atlanta could always work with a USL club in another city if Atlanta doesn’t get one before they enters MLS.
Smith is a guy who might actually be able to comment intelligently when asked how MLS compares to various European leagues, especially on the field.
Hopefully, some enterprising reporter will think to ask him.
Glad to see we have a good manager. Hopefully he has enough of a budget to hire some quality players so we aren’t bottom of the table again. I want to see some competitive, entertaining soccer this season.
Aren’t Atlanta coming into MLS in a couple of years???
Yes, but it’s a different organization affiliated with the Falcons, I believe.
Silverbacks, for as long as they are viable, are staying in the NALS.
Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) and Atlanta (MLS) are two different teams.
Maybe that is his hope though, build a rapport with the local community…
Well the president of the new Atlanta franchise is English.. Also Smith is familiar with the MLS process and the team won’t be looking to hire a coach for probably another year. So in a way this is kind of try out for him.