The USL Championship season may have ended in November but teams have already started moving to make sure they improve in 2024. This series will look at the moves teams have made and what gaps still need to be addressed as they take this offseason to build a Championship-caliber squad. This week, we look at Detroit City, Memphis 901, New Mexico United, Miami FC, returners North Carolina FC and newcomers Rhode Island FC.

Detroit City FC

Detroit City had what could be classified as a difficult season in 2023, which also served as Trevor James’ final season as Le Rouge manager. 117 matches in charge, 2 NISA titles and qualifying for the playoffs in both of DCFC’s first two season in the USL Championship in what will surely cement him in the folklore of a club that has already built significant history since its founding in 2012. The second playoff qualification came virtue of USL Championship’s bizarre “Head to Head points” tiebreaker against Miami FC, who DCFC finished level on points with and with a far inferior goal difference. In fact, DCFC scored the fewest goals in the USL Championship (yes, even less than Hartford, Loudoun and even Vegas.) They stayed in the playoff hunt because of an unreal defensive unit; only four teams in the League (Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Indy and San Antonio) had a better goals against return. Detroit did make the most of their playoff appearance, going on the road and stunning Pittsburgh before falling in Louisville in the quarterfinals, (as literally every single team has in Lou City’s 9 year existence.)

So DCFC is now officially beyond the Trevor James Era (at least as far as on the touchline, he will continue in their Sporting Director role) and into the Danny Dichio Era. Dichio was poached after serving as Mark Briggs assistant at Sac Republic, so DCFC have gone to someone with intimate knowledge of a system that has been one of the best in USL for multiple seasons now. The other big benefit to grabbing Dichio? Beyond his connections across MLS and USL, Sac Republic play a back-three/back-five defensive system more often than not, which DCFC have deployed almost exclusively under Trevor James. The continuity is there in terms of system for a team that rarely makes significant waves in their roster year over year.

To that end, DCFC are returning 14 players from last years team. Michael Bryant, Stephen Carroll, Matt Lewis, Rhys Williams and Devon Amoo-Mensah who were so instrumental in that defensive unit return, along with Nate Steinwascher in goal. Nate’s contract is a two-year deal as well which will feel like a big win for the club given that he initially declined his player option for an additional year.

Nate Steinwascher’s resigning was a massive offseason move for DCFC. *Image courtesy of Detroit City FC*

Up front, Ben Morris, Yazeed Matthews and Skage Simonsen all return, with Maxi Rodriguez, Abdoulaye Diop and Dominic Gasso, scorer of that wonderful winner in the Playoffs in Pittsburgh, all returning in midfield. The good news is that all but 2 of the goals scored in 2023 are by players returning to the roster. The bad news is that Ben Morris scored the most with six. The worse news is that Maxi Rodriguez’s four was enough for second best. The obvious place to start in terms of building for next year is to go out and get a dynamite center forward. Oniel Fisher, Aaron Bibout and Dario Suarez were all forward experiments that did not quite work. Big names are currently available, with Augi Williams or Albert Dikwa jumping out as the obvious solutions. Someone I think could fit the bill, as much as it would personally hurt me, would be Josue Aaron Gomez from El Paso. He’s the second most productive forward in their history and I would be really interested to see just how much he could do as the primary forward. He also fits the workman-like mentality of Detroit that has seen them get this far. As far as their needs in midfield, Taylor Davila, formerly of RGV, feels like a potentially great option next to Maxi. Lastly, I would love to see Deklan Wynne back in Rouge and Gold given that his option was declined by Charleston.

Can Dichio take DCFC back to the playoffs? With some smart signings I believe he can.

Memphis 901 FC

Memphis 901 was being completely written off at various points of the 2023 USL Championship season. They went through many of the ups and downs that several other clubs experienced. They started slow, then reeled off eight wins in 10, then lost four of their next six. They drew as many games as they lost but were able to avoid defeat enough to get into a decent playoff position. Unfortunately, their fourth place seeding put them up against Lou City who dispatched them on penalty kicks because it is simply written in the stars that Louisville will be in the Conference Final.

The 2023 offseason began with some announcements but the biggest incoming announcement was that the search for the missing Jay Mims, not seen since riding into the sunset after winning USL1 with Union Omaha in 2021, was over. He was found in his hometown by club officials and immediately named to Memphis’ Chief Operations Officer role in December 2023. The club did have a few departures to deal with though. Aaron Molloy, an All-League selection in midfield, joined Ben Pirmann in Charleston for 2024 while Rodrigo Da Costa joined North Carolina FC (a real statement of intent we will revisit in a bit.) They also announced that Laurent Kissiedou, Graham Smith, Rece Buckmaster, Jeremy Kelly, Drew Romig, and Richard Sanchez were out of contract and would not be returning. That is an average of 2010 minutes across 9 players out the door which will also require a significant rework across midfield and defense.

The club did get to work in replacing Da Costa’s goals, with them announcing Kyle Murphy’s return and the signing of Marlon, who spent a short stint in Israel’s first division with Kiryat Shmona. Murphy will be happy to be back in the environs that led to him scoring 20 goals for Memphis in the 2021 USL Championship season and convinced Miami to shell out to get him. Across two seasons on South Beach, Murphy never recaptured the form of that magic season in Memphis so he may be poised for a return to form. That said, the midfield issue is more pressing for Memphis.

Luiz Fernando in action against the Rowdies. *Image courtesy of Memphis 901*

They took the first step in addressing this by signing Zachary Duncan, an Australian midfielder who made a name for himself at Perth Glory of the A-League but has since failed to break through at Aarhus in Denmark where he got a move last year. They also added experienced full back Oscar Jimenez from Lou City and he will add some much needed depth and experience across that back line. Nighte Pickering, Luiz Fernando, Samuel Careaga, Lucas Turci, Emerson Hyndman, Bruno Lapa, Carson Vom Steeg, Akeem Ward, Aren Seeger and Dylan Borczak round out the returners. Hyndman, who became vital last year and was a spark for much of Memphis’ success will be even more important in 2024 as he anchors a much changed midfield for 901.

New Mexico United

New Mexico United ended up in a similar place to Detroit City but by a very different route. Zach Prince, who was the natural successor to the MLS-bound Troy Lesesne. After a season and a half in charge, he departed to join Lesesne at New York Red Bulls. This meant that Eric Quill, formerly of North Texas, would step into the manager role. He was able to sneak NMU into the playoffs after they had been left a bit at sea with the managerial swap. They exited to Sac Republic in the first round but that was hardly surprising given the gulf between the two teams. So how can Quill and new Sporting Director Itamar Keinan get this project moving?

The first thing they went about doing was locking down as much of the 23 squad as possible. With the announcement that Chris Wehan would be back on New Years Eve, they currently have 14 returning players from last year’s squad. The significant outs are Amando Moreno (who goes down the road to rivals El Paso) and Justin Portillo (staying in the Western Conference as well with FC Tulsa.) With Cristian Nava, Daniel Bruce, Zico Bailey, Kalen Ryden, Greg Hurst, Sergio Rivas, Will Seymore, Harry Swartz and Alex Tambakis announced as returning among others, the core of the team is largely intact. We can’t pretend that Moreno (top goal contributor with 10 goals and five assists) and Portillo (five goals, five assists) won’t be big misses but the heart of the team remaining intact is very important. Nava in particular will look to reestablish himself and step into the Moreno-sized hole after suffering an ACL tear that ended his season extremely early in 2023.

They have since looked to MLS Next Pro for goals as they added Columbus Crew 2 and former South Georgia Tormenta attacking midfielder Marco Micaletto. He has featured on the right wing and up front as well so his attacking versatility, which was good enough for one goal every three matches in 2023 for Columbus, could fit well in Quill’s system. They have also added Avionne Flanagan from USL1 Champions Charlotte Independence. Flanagan featured in all but one match for the Independence in 2023, plying his trade at left back well and popping up with the odd assist.

The clear area where NMU will have to add is in front of goal. They have lost 25 goal involvements between Moreno and Portillo and have added just 12 so they will need to find a reliable scorer. Hurst may yet prove himself to be that guy but he has struggled for consistency since moving from Union Omaha in USL1. Danny Trejo remains on the free agent market and NMU have done the Phoenix poach before (just look at Hurst) so could that be the solution to their woes or do they look to the likes of Tyler Bagley from Las Vegas to keep the fluidity of that frontline? Either way, NMU remaining a playoff team in 2024 is anything but a given and they will need some smart business to lock up the spot in a changing Western Conference.

Miami FC

Hmm… How to begin talking about Miami FC. A team that missed the playoffs in 2023 by the slimmest margin, has opted for an almost complete rebuild. Antonio Nocerino, the Italian and former Orlando City player was signed on as manager which adds another element of the unknown to the squad as he has not had any experience as a manager. With the new manager and the amount of turnover in the squad, talking through what happened last year is just not informative to what we can expect from the squad in 2024.

They announced that just three of their players from last year will return with Ben Ofeimu, Gabriel Cabral and Ben Mines the lucky trio. 17 players are on their way out and many have already been snapped up by other Championship clubs. Paco Craig and Jake Mcguire (North Carolina FC), Aedan Stanley (Indy Eleven), Kyle Murphy (Memphis 901), Bolu Akinyode and Joaquin Rivas (El Paso Locomotive) have already signed for other Championship clubs and the team has brought in a number of USL1 talents or young players from abroad to fill out their lineup.

Frank Lopez from RGV represents the only player with USL Championship experience of the players that they have signed. The players they have brought in, at the risk of being disrespectful, are making a fairly large jump to be able to compete together in the Championship. Nocerino has also raided Potenza Calcio, a Serie C team for forwards Rocco Genzano and Mattia Gagliardi.

With this relative lack of experience and players with no relative level to judge, especially with some of the numbers not being particularly impressive, I think Miami could be in for a long year if they are not ready to start making some big signings as we turn into the new year.

North Carolina FC

The USL1 Champions of 2023 have given what many American soccer fans want, a promotion. They won the USL’s Division 3 League and will return to the USL Championship after two seasons. This is actually a demonstration for me on why I really like promotion and relegation because rather than going out of business, NCFC dropped down a tier, got their stuff together and then returned to the USL Championship when they were ready. John Bradford has assumed the role of Sporting Director in addition to being the manager for the last three seasons. That being said, they have also gone out and done a ton of business to be ready for the jump up in level for 2024.

They announced their returners from the USL1 Championship season and they will take some of their most potent weapons to the next level. Oalex Anderson, Rafa Mentzingen and Garrett McLaughlin, who accounted for 39 of the 58 goals that NCFC scored last year, are back. They return 12 total players from that squad but it was in the additions where NCFC really went to work.

Rodrigo Da Costa as the first new signing announced was a big statement from NCFC. He scored 15 goals between Tulsa and Memphis 901 last year and will be a great veteran presence in the team. His linkup with the likes of Anderson and Mentzingen will be absolutely crucial to any success NCFC hope to have but I am excited to see it come together as it has the potential to be one of the most potent attacks in the League. Adding Paco Craig, probably one of the most experienced players in the USL Championship is another great addition. Add Evan Conway and Collin Martin from the now-defunct San Diego Loyal and you are putting together something pretty impressive. Jacori Hayes and Lamar Batista from San Antonio round out what is a great looking squad that is set to do some big things in 2024.

Rhode Island FC

Expansion teams are very difficult to judge most often. They are starting from scratch, but the way that Rhode Island has gone about their business, they are giving every indication that they will not be a typical expansion side.

To shape the team they went and got Khano Smith as their head coach. Smith had been Tommy Soehn’s assistant in Birmingham in the last five years and as such has solid connections in the League. They went to work in the market immediately, picking up goalkeeper Koke Vegas and defender Grant Stoneman from Loyal and then got additional eyes with the signing of Prince Saydee from Hartford and League of Ireland player Mark Doyle. Then they made the announcement that told everyone they were really serious.

JJ Williams, who contributed 23 goals for Tampa Bay Rowdies last year, was announced at a kit release and it changed how many were thinking about Rhode Island. Then they announced Marc Ybarra, who had been a key part of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ Players’ Shield winning squad and while they still have some distance to go, they have added some really impressive pieces. With only 13 players announced so far, they still have a lot of work to do across all aspects of the team but the foundation that Smith and Co have laid is fantastic.

- Phil Baki