Orlando City Soccer is certainly at a crossroads and they have made a declarative statement on which direction they intend to head with the hire of new head coach James O'Connor. They have wisely taken a page out of the franchise's history books in hiring O'Connor away from USL Pro-side Louisville City FC.
After a long career overseas, Orlando's new coach came to town to play for their club while the team was still in USL in 2012. He became a player-coach with the team in 2013, the same year they won the USL Pro Championship.
O'Connor went on to retire as a player in 2014 in order to take the Louisville job. He has seen great results, winning USL Pro last year and leading his club to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Club.
O'Connor is an inspired hire by Orlando's leadership team of owner Flavio Augusto da Silva and CEO Alex Leitao when such a move was not necessarily expected. While their new coach was on some of the shortlists created by the media, it was more likely that the Brazilian owner and top team executive would go for someone they know.
I even suggested that they should go that route for their own peace of mind after their previous hiring an American coach, Jason Kreis, was fruitless. Others speculated that former Brazilian national team managers Luiz Felipe Scolari and Dunga were among the potential candidates.
Even amongst the backdrop of all of that, this seems like the right move at the right time for Orlando. O'Connor is a young coach at 38 years old that has unlimited potential and he already sports a 60-23-23 record as a professional coach.
There is so much nostalgia attached to this move that it almost feels like da Silva and Leitao snatched the hiring of O'Connor right out of the old playbook of club founder Phil Rawlins.
After all, it was Rawlins connection to his hometown team, Stoke City, that originally led to O'Connor's involvement with Orlando City. Louisville was Orlando's original affiliate when the club entered MLS and the strong relationship between the franchises certainly paved the way as well for O'Connor to take over as a young head coach.
In those pre-MLS days, Rawlins crafted a culture that was centered around a strong community feel and now one of Orlando's own is coming home. I am sure he is smiling now that one of his and former head coach Adrian Heath's pupils is getting this opportunity.
There is no doubt that following the "what would Phil Rawlins do?" mantra is a wise strategy for Orlando City. He is the person who established the franchise's consistency that evaporated as he became less and less involved.
It does not seem likely that Rawlins would ever reprise any formal role with the club, but anytime his wisdom and vision can be channeled, it is a positive.
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Feature Image Provided By Orlando City Soccer
