OKC Energy FC: Notes on Nielsen’s departure, club’s coaching search

Image credit: OKC Energy FC

Oklahoma City Energy FC announced Thursday that it mutually agreed to part with coach Jimmy Nielsen on Thursday.

It was a surprising move from a club that was a penalty shootout round away from making its first USL Cup earlier in November.

First, a few notes about what happened and Nielsen’s future:

·  Neither side expected it to get to this point a week ago. Nielsen and the club had agreed to the basics within the contract, but negotiations broke down over salary for his three assistants.

·  The Energy offered to increase the salary for the assistant coaches, but the proposed increase did not meet the coaches’ expectations.

·  Ultimately the Energy made a reasonable offer within its standard budget, but Nielsen and his staff will likely find a new club willing to pay their expected salary. Neither side was necessarily cheap or “at fault” for the negotiation breaking down — just part of the business.

·  Nielsen will be in demand with the number of high-profile open positions within United States lower-division soccer. Nielsen has no immediate plans lined up, given he expected to remain with the Energy as recent as the past week, and is open to any opportunity (including overseas).

·  Nielsen’s lack of a required United States Soccer Federation coaching license for division two standards did not play a role in his departure. Nielsen, who is scheduled to take the coaching licensing classes this upcoming January, would have missed five matches if he had taken the classes this past summer. Both the Energy and United Soccer League supported this timeline, given the lack of flexibility the USSF offers with its certification process.

·  Swope Park, the Major League Soccer B club for Sporting Kansas City, is a club that admires and respects Nielsen, who played his final four seasons with Sporting. Peter Vermes, Nielsen’s former manager, is the hiring person for that position.

·  Nielsen was the longest-tenured coach in the USL this past season, which goes to show how rare this type of longevity (four years) is within the sport, much less a second division league. His tenure with the Energy was successful, building the club from scratch in its first season and making three playoff appearances in the following seasons, including two Western Conference finals.

·  Nielsen: “I had four amazing years here. It was an incredible time, but it is also time for a new challenge. I respect the ownership tremendously. We couldn’t come to a new agreement, but I don’t envision that changing the relationship that we have moving forward.”

As for the Energy’s coaching search:

·  Bob Funk Jr. and Tim McLaughlin (co-owners), Jeff Ewing (club president) and Jason Hawkins (executive director of community development) will lead the coaching search.

·  The club is working on a list of potential candidates, and it plans to have its primary candidates identified as soon as next week. It would prefer to hire its next manager in December, but there is no concrete deadline.

·  Energy FC has identified three points of emphasis for its search: winning, community engagement and culture, and integrating its pro club with technical development all the way down to its youth partners and academy aspirations.

·  This is not the Energy’s first proper coaching search process. The club hired Nielsen in 2014 based on Sporting KC’s recommendation, given the Energy were Sporting’s USL affiliate at that time. However, Oklahoma City had already vetted multiple candidates, including an interview with current Indy Eleven manager Tim Hankinson, before hiring Nielsen.

·  Notable lower-division coaches that are now available include Nikola Popovic (Swope Park), Alessandro Nesta (Miami FC) and Mark Dos Santos (San Francisco Deltas), though the later two may receive larger contract offers from big-spending North American Soccer League clubs. The Energy expects to be one of the premier USL openings, given its resources and above-average investment within the league.

·  Speaking of spending, the Energy expects to have a similar player budget for 2018 as it did this past season. This was not an issue with Nielsen during negotiations.

·  The club debriefed its players shortly after Nielsen’s departure. Despite the coaching change, the Energy has already received affirmation from multiple players to re-sign for 2018.

·  Taft Stadium’s fast turf and narrow pitch will be considered in the coaching search, but it won’t be the deciding factor. Tulsa Roughnecks coach David Vaudreuil told me earlier this season that Nielsen did an excellent job bringing in players that excelled within the tight pitch constraints.

·  Funk Jr.: “As an organization, we want to win. That’s a big priority. We want to be competitive, and we want to put a great team on the field of character, quality and can win games. That’s what we are going to be expecting out of the coach and staff — take our roster and complete those goals.”

·  Funk Jr. (cont.): “It will always be a goal to go to the playoffs and win the USL Cup, but it also includes the community involvement, engagement and understanding the importance as an organization to be involved in the community and fit in our culture.”

Follow James on Twitter: @James_Poling.

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