Q & A with Managing Director Jeff Plush
Commerce City, Colo. - ColoradoRapids.com sat down with Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush this week to discuss the decision to not bring Gary Smith back as head coach, his evaluation of the 2011 team, his vision from the technical aspect, how the coaching process is going, and what his goals and expecations are for the next head coach.
How do you feel today about the decision to not bring Gary Smith back as head coach of the Colorado Rapids?
“Personally, I feel saddened and disappointed. But I also feel that it’s the right decision for everyone involved. I think it’s the right decision for our club, I think it will end up being the best decision for Gary. And we’re moving forward now. We’re excited about our future and we’re excited about where our possibilities lay. Am I’m most excited about the group of people we have in the changing room because we have a high quality group that is ready to go and can win now.”
What do you say to fans that have expressed their disapproval or disappointment over this decision?
“I tell them, thank you for your support and your passion and for using your voice. We do listen to them and respect them very much. We understand a lot of what they are thinking, but we do know the realities of where our club sits, and all of the needs and wants of our organization to continue to push forward both on and off the pitch.
“While they don’t have to take a leap of faith, I think we’ve shown to make some good decisions in this space. I think we’ve moved in a positive direction, and we’ve done that in a collaborate way and we’ll continue to make good decisions with only one thought, and that is, what is in the best interest of the Colorado Rapids.”
Were you surprised by the general reaction?
“No, I wasn’t surprised, because on a personal level, I like Gary very much myself. I did bring him here and was thrilled to do so, and will always look back very fondly on what we did together. It was very difficult and agonizing to go through, but I can certainly look in the mirror and know that we made the right decision for the club. There’s some personal heartache that comes with that, but it’s the right decision.”
How do you evaluate 2011, on the field?
“I would say I’m proud of the group for working through challenges, persevering, and certainly for getting to the playoffs, having two more home playoff games and winning one, and having some real hurdles put in front of us at the end of the season with injuries.
“But I would also say, if we were to give an honest, objective analysis, we didn’t advance into the U.S. Open Cup, we didn’t advance in the Champions League, we finished with less points per game this year than we had last year. And some of those seeds were sown by dropping points at home early in the year. I think if we aspire to be great, which I want us to have those kinds of aspirations, then we need to make Dick’s Sporting Goods Park a fortress, which it has not been, and we need to be greedy about points starting in March. We’re too talented of a team to be scoreboard watching in October.”
Do the Colorado Rapids have the resources to help the next coach be as successful if not more than other MLS teams?
“Yes, we do have the resources. It’s about how do we deploy them, also. While we can talk about things like charter travel, those conversations happened after the fact, not before. We are all part of budget conversations a year ago at this time and chose to deploy our budget in a certain way.
“I’m very open minded to looking for ways to enhance our resources, which we did last year by adding a full time conditioning coach and reserve coach. It wasn’t like there weren’t incremental resources, and they’re will be incremental resources this year. That said, we will operate in a prudent fashion. We will operate as a business, and we have an equal obligation to grow revenues, as well.”
What is your vision on the technical side?
“I think we have to be willing look in the mirror, if you do, you’re going to acknowledge that RSL has done a better job of making Rio Tinto a fortress than we’ve done here (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park). We’re the only two clubs in the United States and Canada to have altitude as a massive home advantage. They’ve done that, and they’ve done that, I think, by playing a little more high pressure than we do. And so I’d like to see us play on the front foot at home, I’d like to see us play a more attacking style, and I’d like to see us play a more creative style.
“This is not to suggest that we haven’t had success, because we have. But I think the League continues to evolve into a more open game and rewards more attacking play. I know that that is a mandate from the League and ownership, to be a more attacking league. That is going to be in our best interest for the quality of players we can attract and how that then leads to fan enjoyment. So that’s what we need to be and that’s what we’re looking for in the next head coach.”
And what about the structure of the technical side, how do you see it?
“I see it in a collaborate fashion. I think more voices is a positive thing, I think more eyeballs is equally positive. The reality is when you have people who care deeply about the club, they bring different viewpoints and perspectives to that table. That’s a positive thing. That’s exactly how it plays out in Seattle, in Salt Lake, historically it’s been that way in DC, it’s playing out that way in Portland. I see that for our organization, but I see that as a positive step for the league as well.
“That said, the technical people will make technical decisions. It’s always been that way and it will continue to be that way. I think I’d be derelict in my duties if I’m not in those meetings and have some opinion where relevant, because at the end of the day I also have the responsibility, and I take that responsibility very seriously.”
And on the field?
“The coach makes all the decisions relative to who’s in the 18-man roster, who plays, what we’re doing, how we’re playing. That (style) will be part of our interview process, because we know what kind of club we want to be, and that’s consistent with everyone from ownership on down. So I think we’re going to find the person that has those qualities, has that level of experience, and will institute that type of playing philosophy.
“It’s important because it then has to trickle down to everything that we do from the first team down to the youngest of the boys and girls in our academy system. The integrated, pyramid model is an essential model for us. Part of that desire to play more of that attacking, creative style, is that we know it’s factual that MLS has had much more success in the fertile environments of Central and South America, than we have in Europe. And so we have to get better and go find those players and have them be part of our long term future.”
When you brought in Gary Smith, I don’t know how many people knew who he was. At this point, do you want to ‘discover’ another coach, or what are you looking for?
“We had a lot of success with Gary, and again we’ll look back fondly on the last three years. Going through that process was rewarding, but we’re in a different place now then we were in 2008, and the League’s in a different place – it’s evolving.
“Our priority at this point is someone with Major League Soccer experience, a deep understanding the U.S. soccer environment and pyramid, a deep understanding the U.S. collegiate system, and then a relationship and willingness and desire to spend time south of the border and mining the tremendous opportunities in the Central and South American countries.”
And that was the next question, how is the coaching search going? Is it a proactive search or are there candidates that have contacted the Rapids?
“Between MLS Cup and the Thanksgiving holiday, there are some hurdles to moving as quickly as some people may like. That said, it is a very proactive search. We’ve had inbound calls from coaches in Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, Holland, England, and I could be forgetting some other countries. And of course from coaches here in the United States. But we have a very targeted list of our top candidates. The process has started and will continue through this week and next week. We’ll break for the holiday, and I think after Thanksgiving it will start to come quickly to a head in the first couple of weeks in December.”
So how is the process, by phone, bringing people in…”
“A phone interview is the easy part, because it’s practical, it helps from a time perspective, but it also helps in keeping things as private and as confidential as they need to be and should be. Even though it probably wouldn’t hurt, it’s not a PR exercise. We’re talking about careers and livelihoods and I take that very seriously. So we will go through the process in a very professional and procedural way, and when the time comes, we’ll probably be able to extend more information.”
Who is involved in the process and the decision?
“Obviously it’s myself, it is Paul (Bravo), it is people weighing in from Jim Martin (President & Chief Executive Officer, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment) – who will certainly have an opportunity to spend time with the finalists – and our other executives. I think we want to look at things from a 360 degree view of what the next head coach means.
“It’s not just what happens on the pitch. It’s how do they interact internally, how do they interact externally with the soccer community, with the business community, with our charitable organizations which we’re deeply involved in, with the media and our fans. And as important as anything, how do they get involved with the academy.
“At the end of the day, I will make the final decision on who we’re going to hire. But I take everyone’s input very seriously, it’s why I believe so much in the collaborate process, because I want lots of different ideas and thoughts and opinions, and then it’s my job to make the best decision from their input.”
Where does attention the Rocky Mountain Cup, Open Cup, Champions League figure in this?
“It’s not my personal style to have a big public fight with other clubs. We are, at the end of the day, in this all together trying to work to build our sport. That said, do I want that person to have an absolute burning desire internally to beat RSL, absolutely.
Full credit to RSL. I think even they would admit, the last four games we played with them we probably outplayed them for 360 minutes, and they’ve outplayed us for about eight or nine – all in injury time – and they’ve taken the Cup and the points. So you have to hold your hand up and say, “well played.”
But I want someone who wants as badly as I do, and I know our supporters do, to get that (Rocky Mountain Cup) back where it started, to find ways to get back into Champions League, so at this point we know we’re going to have be much more successful in the Open Cup than we have been in the recent past, and we’re going to have to make a much deeper run at trying to get the Supporters Shield.
“I think there isn’t anything stopping us from achieving those things. I think most of my piers around the League would tell you that when we’re playing on the front foot and at full strength, we can beat any team in the league. I think we have to get back to that mindset, that mentality, that level of confidence.”