John Morrissey
Where we left off last year
2024 season: 49th points, 5th in the Western Conference
For about 10 weeks early last season, Sacramento was tearing through the West on a long unbeaten streak. Then, Rodrigo Lopez went down. Forwards Trevor Amann and Russell Cicerone either went cold or got injured themselves. The Republic continued to compete, but that special something was gone.
It's a sign of the impossibly high standard in Sacramento that Mark Briggs lost his job after a first-round playoff exit. The Republic had a perfectly fine year in the league, they uncovered a gem in teenaged defender Chibuike Ukaegbu, and they made a quarterfinal run in the Open Cup, but it wasn't enough. The onus is now on Neill Collins, the highly respected former Tampa Bay manager and Briggs' replacement, to meet that standard anew.
