The Back Four: Playoffs, the coaching market, and Carolina

Featuring playoff takeaways, the Carolina Ascent, and more USL miscellany

Welcome in to The Back Four!

As always, visit Backheeled for more USL content like a deep dive into the Championship’s first round. Also, check out This League! for an audiovisual dive into the week that was.

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Championship roundabout

As always, go check out Backheeled for a deep dive into every club. Here, I want to highlight two things: Detroit’s excellence in low block and Phoenix’s attacking patterns.

Let’s start with Detroit City, who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Championship history against Louisville City over the weekend. Danny Dichio didn’t change anything from his Week 34 lineup on paper, but a narrower and more compact alignment paid dividends. Le Rouge were more willing than usual to defend in a 5-4-1, but that doesn’t imply depth; the shape was tight and expressly intended to push the line of confrontation upfield.

Here, you’re seeing a long restart where Detroit intentionally tilts their back line. Because the pass is oriented up the left, Devon Amoo-Mensah – goalscoring hero of the night and left-sided center back – moves forward through the channel to become a target. Behind him, wingback Isaiah LeFlore has tucked deep to provide just-in-case support.

It’s a very small thing, but an abundance of “small things” let Detroit frustrate Louisville for 90 full minutes. This play ends with a throw-in because Le Rouge pack so many numbers into a tight space; they’ll take time off the clock with the ball out of play and move the chains upfield upon restarting. Dichio couldn’t have asked for better.

Amoo-Mensah and Shane Wiedt deserve special attention on the edges of Detroit’s back three. Louisville is the best halfspace team in the league. They target those positions with long service, emphasize them in the press, and use rapturous interchange to carve through them in possession. Because Amoo-Mensah and Wiedt combined to go 12 for 18 in duels and make 24 clearances, those patterns rarely came to be.

Late in the match, Detroit essentially went with four center backs by bringing club legend Stephen Carroll into the back line. That arrangement is seen above – moments before Brian Ownby will receive off a cross and glance a header mere inches above the bar.

Le Rouge certainly broke a sweat down the stretch, but their sheer numbers in the box made penetration impossible for Louisville. There’s a universe where Ownby or Sean Totsch converted a point-blank chance in added time, but we aren’t living it. Detroit had the necessary mix of tactics, grit, and heart, and now they’re conference semifinalists.

Phoenix Rising was similarly dominant in their own third, albeit in an entirely more open and free-flowing match. Phoenix won because of their defensive integrity, but I want to highlight their steadily improving attack here.

Let’s be clear: Rising didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet. They only ended up with three shots on target and took a modest 19 touches in the box. Still, Phoenix’s 3-4-3 had terrific spacing that kept opposing El Paso on a string, even if chances were relatively rare. Pa-Modou Kah’s player deployments helped make it happen.

Rising shifted Rafael Czichos from the center of their back line toward the left, leveraging his entry passing as a constant threat against the Locomotive’s 4-3-1-2 press. You can see that from the outset of the clip, where Czichos’ positioning denies forward Andy Cabrera the ability to close down against a more central defender. At the same time, Cabrera must hedge toward the sideline in case the elbow defender receives.

It’s a no-win situation for El Paso, and it means that Carl Sainte has the space to thread a pass between the lines.

Upfield, forwards Charlie Dennis and Hope Avayevu have both dropped into the pocket. While Sainte’s pass toward the former is hotly contested, Rising are still able to squeeze through. At that point, the Locomotive back line overreacts, and a clever run from Avayevu nearly results in box entrance.

On the El Paso side of things, there’s plenty to nitpick. Phoenix’s forwards have a three-on-two up the middle because Frank Daroma picks out a baffling position upfield. The forward line’s spacing is incoherent. Kofi Twumasi’s challenge from center back is poorly timed. Still, everything that Phoenix does is designed to expose those shortcomings.

I worried about the 3-4-3 when Collin Smith went down, and those worries were accentuated in Pittsburgh during Phoenix’s final regular season game. By contrast, right-aided Ascel Essengue and Pape Mar Boye looked steady in a matchup against El Paso’s rampant left wing. The duo forced Amando Moreno to go zero-for-10 in duels, denying the Locomotive’s offense-driving star at every step.

A week ago, Essengue didn’t attempt a dribble or take a box touch as the starting right wingback. This time around, he tried three take-ons, took multiple touches in the box, and earned Phoenix’s game-winning penalty. You see his confident positioning above, where he’s at the height of a legitimate No. 9 as Dennis spaces low down the sideline.

Again, El Paso’s shape is remarkably bad; Phoenix won’t have it this easy next time out. Still, the way they pick out Avayevu, pin a Locomotive fullback, and flash a cross toward Essengue is highly confident soccer. Rising picked up 1.8 xG over the weekend – their most since the formation change – and feel like a team that’s still improving every single time out. In November, that’s a great spot to be in.

League One’s winners

Four teams down, four to go. The first round in League One featured multiple penalty shootouts, a major upset, and standout defensive tactics across the board. With the dust settling, what caught my eye?

When I laid out the blueprint for Portland to pull off a win in Chattanooga, I emphasized the need to win second balls. Doing so would balance the field tilt and prevent the Red Wolves from getting out in transition, giving Portland a chance to earn a slim victory. By that standard, it was mission accomplished for Hearts of Pine.

On Saturday night, Portland won just 43% of their aerial duels, but those first-wave battles didn’t necessarily matter. Hearts made more recoveries (48 versus 44) than their hosts and attempted more passes in the final third (118 versus 106), evidencing that ability to dictate the flow of the game through second-ball dominance. A few big personnel choices from Bobby Murphy helped it happen: Sega Coulibaly started in central defense, while the deployment of Jake Keegan and Natty James was crucial across the attacking band.

Here, Chattanooga starts long from the back but loses the initial header against Coulibaly. Portland is well-positioned to contest a second ball, with Keegan shadowing the midfield from the No. 10 spot and forming a tight triangle in combination with the pivot. The Red Wolves’ 2-6-2 setup (think about a four-man box in the middle and two wide fullbacks) is numerically superior, but anything is possible.

What’s crucial is Coulibaly’s precision in the air. Rather than knock the ball into the mixer, his header is aimed into open space behind a fullback. There, James is in position to receive in space and then switch into Ollie Wright in the final third.

Coulibaly won 66% of his aerial duels and added seven clearances for good measure. That level of precision was a constant, and it made Portland tick.

Chattanooga only managed four chances worth 0.07 xG or more, and three of them came off of set pieces. The other (a header from Grayson Mercer) was the product of nice interplay between Aaron Lombardi and Jordan Ayimbila up the left but didn’t challenge Hunter Morse in goal. Both Coulibaly and Kemali Green were meet to the moment, and that’s a major reason why Hearts of Pine go again next weekend.

FC Naples‘ absolutely unexpected breakout star was Joel Serrano, a season-long back-up that emerged in a penalty shootout after goalkeeper Lalo Delgado went down. The 26-year-old Serrano passed like ships in the night with Matt Poland at Chicago House, anticipating a reunion in League One this season. When push came to shove, Serrano did the job after having made just two USL starts all year.

Still, this was a team effort in which Poland’s defensive structure kept a lid on a heretofore rampant Union Omaha. Naples didn’t necessarily rip up the usual script, but the emphases within his 4-1-4-1ish press were extremely successful on Saturday.

I’ve laid out a loose map of the press here. Generally, Naples’ goal was to deny access through the pivot into the halfspaces of what looked like a 4-2-2-2 for Omaha, and they wisely focused on Max Schneider and Brandon Knapp in the central midfield to make it happen. Marc Torrellas was stellar as a No. 8, popping in that four-man attacking midfield and tracking whichever center mid was in his purview. At the No. 10 spot, Kevin O’Connor blended his responsibilities. Sometimes he’d mark a midfielder, but he also knew when to fly upfield and put pressure onto a ball-handling defender.

Naples’ ability to walk that tightrope made Omaha uncomfortable, encouraging riskier and longer passes. That’s where a mid-high Naples back line came into play. The starting back four – Max Glasser, Jake Dengler, Brecc Evans, and Julian Cisneros – attempted 19 ground duels while refusing the attacking-zone outlets any room to breathe.

It’s probably telling that Omaha’s best run-of-play chance came after roughly 70 seconds of action before Naples had even settled. There, a long entry pass over the press ended up at Stefano Pinho’s feet between the lines, allowing Los Búhos to collapse the defense and free a Charlie Ostrem overlap. His ensuing cross was overcooked, but Dion Acoff recovered it on the right, allowing for a second bite at the apple against a recovering defense.

That play was defined by two themes: successful incision over Naples’ press and an ability to recover possession in the final third. For the most part, Candela’s side struggled to make those things happen. Omaha’s four starting defenders completed a modest 67% of passes from the defensive half into the attacking half, while four final-third recoveries in 120 minutes was below the season-long standard.

On Sunday, One Knox weathered a slow start against a punchy Charlotte side. The Independence’s choice to use true wingbacks (including Clay Dimick!) and pin Jon Bakero and Souiabou Marou as narrow man markers within a 5-2-3 defense proved highly effective. I’d almost call the press a 3-2-4-1 given how aggressive the wingbacks got while providing ball-side support.

Ian Fuller’s answer? Trust Sivert Haugli and Jordan Skelton to do their jobs in central defense. Knoxville generally struggled to handle Marou and Bakero’s inside-out flow and ceded uncharacteristic giveaways against the counterpress, but their center backs held firm. Haugli and Skelton ultimately combined for 10 aerial wins and 15 clearances.

I’m not here to pretend that Knoxville was rampant, of course. Once Haugli scored off a corner, this turned into a very defensive game. Still, the move that earned said corner featured a super clever switch into right back Jaheim Brown over the narrow Charlotte press, allowing for clean box entrance against the recovering Independence. One Knox knew how to break even if low-block solidity was the order of the day.

Brown stands out again in this defensive sequence, recovering the length of the pitch into his own zone. Left winger Nico Rosamilia (orange) also stars; his backpressure slows Charlotte’s break and allows the defensive line (blue) to get home. Once they’re settled, One Knox are nigh impenetrable. Brown and a recovering Stavros Zarokostas show Charlotte inside, Skelton blocks a shot, and the danger is averted.

Riding out similar scenarios eventually allowed Zarokostas to score on a short-field break, cementing a 2-0 lead and advancement. It wasn’t easy, but Knoxville showed true grit where it counted.

The Spokane Velocity also had it tough against high-octane Tormenta. Where Charlotte used a situational 3-2-4-1, South Georgia pressed in the all-out version of that same shape. Sebastian Vivas served as the No. 9, with fellow attackers Niall Reid-Stephen and Yaniv Bazini sitting beneath him to mark the Velocity pivot. On the flanks, wingbacks Oscar Jimenez and Gabriel Alves took up wonderfully expansive roles.

The Velocity brought tricks of their own, namely in the decision to swap Shavon John-Brown to the left and Pierre Reedy to the right. That choice would power Spokane’s best chances, and it also affected Tormenta. John-Brown’s speed and trickery forced Jimenez to sit deeper, opening pockets through which to build.

Still, it’s useful to contextualize how South Georgia tried to control the field tilt. Their long initiation was designed to clear Spokane’s wonky press (i.e., striker Neco Brett as left forward, Reedy as right forward, Luis Gil a step low) to set up an attacking 3-2-5. After turnovers, intense close-downs and ceaseless ball pressure aimed to deny the counter. Tormenta’s chaotic-yet-structured transitions were critical.

Here, left back Derek Waldeck is able to push with the ball as Reid-Stephen is dispossessed, allowing for a break into Gil’s feet at the No. 10 spot. As Gil receives, Brett starts to curl toward the goal with John-Brown providing the width. It’s a dangerous situation, but Tormenta’s connected response stops a chance from arriving.

Two center backs (Jackson Kasanzu and Makel Rasheed) step up, so central midfielders Conor Doyle and Gabriel Cabral track back to cover. Rasheed’s response is enough to make a stop, but Tormenta has built layers of protection and can easily shift into comfortable possession through Doyle after recovering.

Now, that clip highlights Tormenta’s prowess, but it also lays the track for Spokane’s route to success. Here, the Velocity are pinned at the sideline, but they found more and more side-to-side spark as the match went on. Terrific in-box chances came in the 83rd minute (diagonal to Reedy, then cut against the momentum into an arriving John-Brown) as well as the 85th (John-Brown tucks inside, Lucky Opara overlaps to cross, Jack Denton recovers a clearance and dribbles in) because of high-speed lateral movement against a recovering defense.

Spokane finished with a minority of possession (48%) and lost the field-tilt battle (47%) but bested Tormenta in terms of xG and shot attempts in the box. It was a different look than we’ve seen from the Velocity, but it was enough to scrape through to penalty kicks and seal a victory. I often say that the best teams can win in multiple ways, and the Velocity made that plain on Sunday.

Coaching market primer

With Nate Miller settled in Boise and Eamon Zayed off to Corpus Christi, some of the biggest names in the USL coaching markets have found their landing spots. Still, we’ve got half-a-dozen openings lingering as the offseason approaches, and there’s always the chance more clubs decide to make a change ahead of 2026.

Who’s available to hire, and which positions across League One and the Championship are most enticing? Let’s dig in.

The Jobs

The Oakland Roots are, depending on your perspective, either a golden ticket or a poisoned chalice for a prospective manager. The Roots haven’t been afraid to spend on prominent players, and their first season at the Coliseum was a smashing success. Few USL clubs can match the sense of community Oakland provides, and they’ve found success developing talent in the Project 51O system.

The rub? Seven managers have come and gone over the last five years in the East Bay. No job in the USL comes with less security. If you get it right in Oakland, there’s the potential to get it very right. If not, don’t expect the leeway to slowly build your program.

The El Paso Locomotive are the newest club to enter the fray, with Wilmer Cabrera’s departure announced this week. For me, adaptability has to be key in choosing a successor. Cabrera typically uses a smaller core of players, and he’s liable to stick to a system even when it’s past the expiration date. At the same time, Cabrera basically guarantees you low-end playoff qualification; if you’re moving on from him, you need to take a big swing.

Brooklyn FC is set to make their USL Championship debut next spring, and they’ve hired Brian McBride – an American soccer great – as their club’s general manager. The New York market might come with expectations of a big domestic name, but Brooklyn has been savvier and more international on the Super League side. Jessica Silva brought managerial experience in France and in the Canadian national ranks; Tomas Tengarrinha made his name in Portugal. We’ll see if that pattern holds for the men’s team.

Sporting Club Jacksonville has been mum about their Championship operation for the most part, but they’re on pace to blow the rest of the Super League out of the water with more than 6,000 season ticket sales in their inaugural season. There‘s real ambition in Jacksonville, though I’d expect the club to look for a manager with some local expertise. Super League manager Stacey Balaam represents the right mix of experience: she was an England youth international, but she spent years as a college coach in the southeast and brought obvious local knowledge to the squad-building process.

Fort Lauderdale United is yet another Super League organization that’s entering the men’s mix, set to debut in USL League One next March. There’s a chance that Tyrone Mears, who led the club’s first Super League season before stepping into a front office role, simply takes over the men‘s team. If not, the women’s precedent is a useful blueprint once more. New manager Alissa Rogers combined academy experience with a college coaching resume, useful traits that would boost a League One expansion side.

Sporting Cascades is Eugene, Oregon’s League One expansion team, the professional successor to USL League Two’s Lane United. I initially wondered if John Galas (who was at Lane United and previously led FC Tucson for a year-and-a-half) would get the job. The delay in such a hire points toward a “no,” but we’ll see where this club lands.

Westchester SC: Just this week, Westchester announced the departure of Dave Carton and the technical staff that led a last-place finish in 2025. Per sources close to the club, Westchester is looking for a replacement with local ties – someone that can recruit a younger, faster squad relying upon the vast talent pool in the New York metro area.

The Candidates: An Unranked, Non-Comprehensive Shortlist

So, who are some of my favorite available candidates? I’m going to dive deep into four coaches on the market before noting a few honorable mentions.

Before that, however, we need to talk about Loudoun. As I reported earlier this year, Ryan Martin is free to take another job at season’s end. That means two things. On one hand, Martin immediately becomes the biggest name out there. On the other, it means that Loudoun needs a coach. We’ll see where Loudoun lands, given the presence of well-regarded assistant Victor Lonchuk and the presence of Alen Marcina as the club’s scouting director.

With that said, let’s start the rundown with Benny Feilhaber. Just let go by Oakland, Feilhaber is a premier option if he wants to stay in the USL. His combination of name recognition from a long MLS career, developmental nous from his time coaching in MLS Next Pro, and obvious Championship-caliber tactics should be appealing to prospective suitors.

Prior to Feilhaber taking charge, Oakland posted a -0.48 xG margin per game across 11 regular season matches. During the ex-USMNT midfielder’s 19-game reign, that number jumped to a flat zero.¹ Feilhaber kept integrating young talent, initially using a “three-box-three” to emphasize players like Ali Elmasnaouy through the midfield. Later, he adopted a diamond-shaped 4-4-2 that earned striker Peter Wilson a Golden Boot and cleverly reinvented Panos Armenakas as a fullback. We’ve seen Feilhaber take a bad roster and elevate it to borderline playoff status, and there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t succeed with full-throated organizational support at a new club.

Trevor James left Detroit City midway through the 2025 season, amidst his second season as the club’s sporting director. James brings extensive MLS and European scouting experience, and he’s innately familiar with the transition process in the lower leagues. He was in Indy as they moved from the NASL to the USL and made the postseason, and he did even better in Detroit.

As Le Rouge made the jump, James led consecutive playoff appearances and produced all-time elite defensive records despite bottom-of-the-barrel budgets. Detroit’s 2022 pseudo-expansion team still holds the club’s best-ever xG and xGA marks at the Championship level; with a 5.7 PPDA and average defensive action height of 45.1 yards, they were the USL’s most modern pressing team that season. There’s a certain flash to hiring an up-and-comer, but that can’t beat Trevor James’ resume. Sources indicate he’s actively seeking a head coaching role this winter.

When Ian Russell was in Reno, I thought he was the bee’s knees. A longtime presence in the San Jose milieu as an assistant and multi-time interim manager, Russell came to Nevada when 1868 FC was still affiliated with the Earthquakes. That influenced his tactical outlook to a certain degree, but Russell’s ability to combine developmental needs with a totally unique man-marking scheme has never left my mind.

Reno won the Players’ Shield under Russell in 2020, posting a 55% field tilt and the Championship’s second-most xG out of a 4-4-2ish template. Still, Russell proved adaptable throughout his reign even if midfield energy was his calling card. I’ve heard Russell’s name linked with openings a few times this year, and I think he’d be a stellar hire for any team in the USL.

Donovan Ricketts spent the better part of five years as an assistant in Tulsa, eventually departing the club for Carolina Core while maintaining a reputation as one of the USL’s more astute goalkeeper coaches. In 2025, Ricketts finally got a shot at a top job in Carolina, leading the club to their first-ever MLS Next Pro playoff appearance.

Still only 48 years old, Ricketts is young by managerial standards, and he’s developing a sense of style already. Carolina posted the third-highest PPDA in Next Pro this season (i.e., little pressure) and launched a majority of their passes in build. Ricketts didn’t rip up a 3-4-3ish tackle template, but he leaned into a “sit low, strike through organized counterattacking” system that boosted the Core’s per-match xG margin from a modest +0.05 to a robust +0.26 year-over-year. Moreover, his success in Next Pro came at an independent club; he knows how to win where there are legitimate stakes.

So, who else is on my radar? Ian Cameron’s name keeps popping up across League One, though he seemed happy for a break when he left Tormenta. Anthony Pulis and Mark Lowry are proven winners in the USL that could follow Miller from the Real Salt Lake system.

I’d like to see Michael Nsien get another look in the league, and the assistant pool is always rife with options. Someone like Richie Ryan (now with FC Tulsa) could make sense for an expansion team; Louisville’s Scott Budnick could follow the Devin Rensing-esque path from an Eastern Conference titan to a head job. I’ve heard terrific things about Fredy Herrera in San Antonio.

In other words, it’s a crowded market! We’ll see how the offseason shakes out, but the sheer number of great options that are available will make the hot seats that much hotter in the spring of 2026.

Carolina’s ascent

In their first five games of the season, the Carolina Ascent went winless and conceded 11 goals. Since then, they’re undefeated in their last four matches and conceding 40% less on a per-game basis.

Much of that improvement owes to a renewed, restructured press masterminded by Philip Poole. The principle is simple: deny the central midfield as best as possible, and be willing to change shapes to make it happen in a given matchup.

You’re seeing two examples of the press here. The first comes from a win against DC Power where Carolina pressed with three forwards. The second from a win against Brooklyn, featuring a classic 4-4-2.

That 4-4-2 has been the go-to since day one for Carolina, but DC’s three-at-the-back build required something different. With energetic winger Mackenzie George deployed up top, the Ascent adopted a 4-1-2-3 pressing structure that could match the opposing center backs and allow for parity against the pivot. Carolina scored in the 14th and 16th minutes in that match by forcing high turnovers and breaking before the defense could recover.

The Brooklyn game required a different approach, hence why you’re seeing a reprised 4-4-2. Tomas Tengarrinha’s unit has preferred a back four as of late, so Carolina matched it. In the screenshot, Brooklyn is starting to pass toward the Ascent’s left, but winger Audrey Harding isn’t rotating. She stays firm to clog the channel, whilst George and midfielder Taylor Porter move leftward tightens any potential passing angle.

Carolina isn’t concerned about passes against the sideline; it’s all about central denial. The sideline is basically an additional defender! That change in focus and a heightened back line has vastly improved Carolina’s numbers. The Ascent’s non-penalty xG against average is down by 0.25 during this stretch; their final-third recoveries (8.0) and interceptions (11.8) per game are both up by more than 40%.

Those trends held steady on Thursday night away to Spokane. The usual 4-4-2 held against Zephyr’s two center backs, and the expressiveness of the press was immediately apparent.

This play starts in media res, with winger Riley Baisden having curled her closing run all the way into the box; she’s above the level of George (orange) at striker. The shifted shape is essentially a 4-1-3-2, with Porter (fully circled in purple) sitting low whilst pivot partner Emily Morris shifts toward the wing to cover space.

Zephyr are forced into a long ball, one that’s closed by Jill Aguilera from the left back spot. That’s an as-of-yet-unmentioned feature of Carolina’s new look; they’re so aggressive in allowing their fullbacks to close central space.

Aguilera’s effort allows the rest of the midfield to recover, at which point the ball is knocked into Porter’s path. She spins through ample counterpressure to retain possession, hitting George to settle Carolina into the final third.

That post-takeaway composure led by Taylor Porter is an underrated aspect of successful pressure. Once you force a turnover, you need to retain the ball. Porter is terrific in that category, having succeeded on 88% of her dribbles attempts and retained possession on 78% of her touches – comparable to other elite central players like Amber Wisner or Sophia Braun.

Sequences like you’re seeing gave Carolina a staggering 70% field tilt on Thursday. Spokane’s starting center mids completed only 12 passes into the final third on just 57% accuracy. In every sense, it was a dominant outing – and a just reward for Poole‘s brave adjustments.

Quick Hits

In other news this week…

• On the cutting room floor: Pittsburgh! I thought Sean Suber pitched a perfect game at the heart of the Riverhounds’ defense against Hartford, mixing in incisive from-the-back passing with absolute steadiness in block. Suber’s numbers (seven-for-eight in the air, 18 long balls, 12 clearances) don’t do justice to the way he helped deny one of the USL’s best transition offenses.

• I focused on the winners in the League One section, but Charlotte‘s choice to insert Christopher Jaime into the central midfield should’ve won them the match. Jaime has usually played as an elbow wingback this season, often backing up Rafael Jauregui throughout the summer. As a No. 8, he took five shots, initiated 10 final-third entries, and had an immense two-way impact in a Charlotte system that feasted on short-field breaks.

• Ollie Wright is that dude. His goal against Chattanooga – quick throw into Nathan Messer, pass-and-move connection with an inverted Wright, one-two to open the shooting angle – was absolutely stellar. Portland’s upside lies in their elite attackers, and Wright is the most explosive option left in the League One playoff field.

• Go watch Sorry, Baby on HBO Max. It’s an indie movie from writer/director/star Eva Victor about a graduate student coping with the effects of sexual assault, but you aren’t going to find a film that’s as subtle, heartfelt, and darkly comedic about what it’s like to persist in the wake of something tragic. (Also, there’s a very cute cat.)

1. Well, -0.006 per game, but who cares?