While neither team has made any official announcement, it is all but certain that head coach Mark Briggs will be leaving the Birmingham Legion to become an assistant coach under Eric Quill at FC Dallas of MLS.
Rumors about this started circulating a few days ago and at this point it is pretty much an open secret. It is unclear precisely what role he will have at Dallas but this has to be viewed as a positive career move for him from almost every angle. Quill himself was until a year ago head coach at New Mexico United so he and Briggs would already know each other well although they never worked together. Dallas finished 7th in MLS’ Western Conference last year with a mediocre record of 11-12-11, losing to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first round of the playoffs. That was an improvement from 2024, when they missed the playoffs entirely, an unacceptable performance for one of MLS’ most respected clubs. Doubtless Quill is intending to improve further and bolstering the coaching staff would be an obvious piece of the plan.
So Mark Briggs is joining a club that is looking to be on an upward trajectory, would be far more visible than the Legion, gets him on the radar for head coaching jobs elsewhere in MLS – and potentially back home in the UK – and is likely a financial gain as well (although coaching salaries in MLS and the USL are generally not disclosed, it’s a slam dunk that MLS pays way more).
So, congratulations to Mark and all the best.
His brief time at the Three Sparks was hardly a roaring success; he did tell me late in the season that Tommy Soehn had spoken with him and admitted to leaving him with a difficult situation. Actually, that’s not the phrasing he used; it was rather more colorful than that. Which is to say, 2026 was always going to be a rebuilding year. It does look like he had been working on upgrading the roster for this year (I would have released a few more players myself although things were moving in the right direction) but that seems to have stalled. You may note that the team website does not currently have active player or coaching roster pages. Hmmm.
Indeed, where does all this leave the Legion? Well, that’s the big question and the reason for the header image. That and the fact that I have been a huge Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fan for 50 years. 2026 is not yet a write-off by any stretch of the imagination but some new problems have just been created. Which means cooler heads need to prevail.
It is admittedly much tougher to acquire player talent when you don’t have an established full-time coach. The Legion needs to fill quite a few gaps on the roster, not to mention add some depth. Notably, there is no apparent #1 goalkeeper now that Fernando Delgado has signed with Monterey Bay. And the striker position remains open with no news on the Ronaldo Damus front.
On the other hand, any player coming in can hardly make the team much worse. Finishing dead last in the entire Championship means (for the time being anyway) there’s only one direction the team can go. A player wanting to make a name for himself could well be attracted to that regardless of the current coaching situation. The Legion could still be an appealing option.
If the Legion is looking to bring in an outside name to lead the team, that is not something that can be done quickly. Some stability is needed, however, and quickly, with the first preseason game against Nashville SC less than three weeks away now. More or less the only way to do that is to make an interim hire and likely from inside the club. That would mean, effectively, either Eric Avila or Jay Heaps. Or a tag team of the two, which is essentially what we had last year in the interregnum. Eric recently upgraded his license (as did Matt van Oekel) and would seem the obvious solution, temporarily if not also permanently.
Even if it could be done quickly, the list of available outside candidates right now probably is not very long. It doesn’t help that the USL is expanding by 5 professional teams this year. The Championship is adding 2 teams (for a net gain of 1 with North Carolina FC going on hiatus) and League One is adding a whopping 5 (for a net gain of 4 with Texoma FC dropping to League Two). The Legion is entering late into what is already a saturated seller’s market. And any coach abroad who is currently available is probably in that position for the wrong reasons. Such as Wilfried Nancy at Celtic (for a massive 32 days) and Ruben Amorim at Manchester United. They would be outside the Legion’s pay range anyway. Closer to home (unless he’s back in Norway) would be Ronny Deila, fired by Atlanta United after their worst season ever. That means potentially waiting until the summer to get a permanent gaffer. Not ideal.
That being said, if a club wants to hire a coach under contract with another club they are usually required to pay some compensation to end the contract, much the same as transfer fees are paid for players. That presumably means the Legion will have some cash from this move that they can flash around, either for a coach or for players.
Still, this will almost certainly slow the rebuilding effort. Is the Legion in an unredeemable mess? No, but some positive news is needed very soon. We shall see.
And don’t forget to carry your towel.
