Change is brewing for Nashville SC.
The club fired manager Gary Smith in May after a seven-season stretch that spanned 239 matches and two leagues. Two months later, former U.S. men’s national team assistant and interim manager BJ Callaghan has officially taken charge. With him, Callaghan has brought a wave of optimism and promises of ushering Nashville into an era the club has defined as “Nashville SC 2.0”.
So, what exactly is Nashville SC 2.0 supposed to look like? With Callaghan’s debuting on the sidelines on Wednesday, Backheeled finds out.
Youth development
“In a league where you have a salary cap and a lot of different ways you can spend the money, it's so crucial, I think, to be able to play with all the pieces on the board,” Nashville SC CEO Ian Ayre told Backheeled before Callaghan’s introductory press conference. “I think that has to involve the opportunity to develop and play and use or utilize young players and that's something we perhaps haven't had the best of to date.”
If there’s anyone who should understand the value of youth development, it’s Ayre. Before joining Nashville in 2018, the CEO spent years with Liverpool, who have consistently been one of the best in the world at both developing and playing their young players.
“As I've seen in all the teams I've ever been involved in, there's a difference between having young players who are good enough and playing young players who are good enough,” he said. “I think that BJ has that track record of being able to take a young player's development and give them an opportunity and play them out into the side. I think if we want to play with all the pieces on the board that's going to be crucial.”
It’s telling that youth development was Ayre’s first talking point when asked about Nashville’s evolution. Not winning games, not style of play (although those things were certainly mentioned later), but developing young players.
