Last week, Republic FC announced that Academy Director and U-19 coach Mark Briggs was promoted to first team head coach for the upcoming 2020 United Soccer League Championship season.
Briggs began his professional coaching career in 2012 as a player-coach with the Wilmington Hammerheads, however, when the Englishman had the opportunity to coach a girls U-12 team, that was the moment he discovered his passion for it.
Now, the former West Bromwich Albion midfielder will be leading the boys in Old Glory Red from the touchline as the Indomitable Club preps for its seventh USL Championship campaign. And Briggs is looking forward to applying all the soccer knowledge he’s obtained over the years into building a competitive club in Sacramento.
You’ve coached a variety of different age groups, from a girls U-12 team to a USL side that hoisted a Supporters Shield. Is there a big difference in coaching academy kids versus established veteran players?
I think the beauty of this sport is whether it’s Cameron Iwasa or a U-12 academy kid, if you’re playing the sport and you want to improve, you always want to be coached. If I can help a U-12 kid improve, it’s the same as if I can help Cameron Iwasa improve. As professionals, they want to get better, they want someone who is going to buy into them. They want somebody who is going to pay them the attention to see them improve, to give them little details that could potentially make them better. So, I think whether it’s a young kid or whether it’s a top professional, they all strive to get better and it’s my job as a coach to figure out a way to make Cameron better, to figure out a way to make a U-12 player better, and that’s the part I enjoy.
Having played professionally in Europe and the United States, what’s the best piece of soccer advice you’ve picked up along your journey?
From a player perspective, when I was younger, I think you try to complicate the game too much. Whether it’s trying to impress your coach or the supporters, whatever the case may be, you try to complicate the game. One of my old coaches said to me “the first pass you see is usually the best pass” and it stuck with me and I tried to simplify my game. You realize as you get older that the players that do well and have good careers do the simple things consistently.
What about the coaching perspective, what have you learned along the way?
I had good coaches growing up, I was very fortunate. I had John Gorman who was assistant coach for England, and Glenn Hoddle, and Richard O’Kelly who is now an assistant coach at Aston Villa. But as a player, when I was that young coming through, you don’t really take or appreciate the level of coaching you’re getting. I didn’t appreciate it until I became a coach. I played in Malta and I had an Italian coach and it was the first time I started to take note of the tactical aspects and the amount of detail that it takes to be successful with a team. And he was the first one that made me think, woah, I don’t know anything. And I started to look at his attention to detail and all the things that he brought to the table and I learned a lot from him. I thought it was very productive for me and my future and I took a lot of notes and took things in and tried to bring that into me as a coach. The attention to detail, the simplicity in your the communication, making the players happy, putting them in an environment where they are comfortable to express themselves. Just those types of things that sometimes you don’t appreciate as a player.
You had the opportunity to meet Jose Mourinho while he was managing Manchester United when the English club toured the U.S. a few years ago. Was there anything he told you that really resonated with you?
He said, “remain humble, focus on the details. Focus on the details and the person.” He said, “I have no doubt you could probably go out on the field and run a training session right now with my group of players at Manchester United. The majority of professional coaches can do that, but the best ones connect with their players. The best ones get the best out of their players. Now, you have to figure out your way of doing that.” That was kind of his advice in a nutshell. He said, “keep continuing to learn from a coaching perspective, from a tactical perspective. The game continues to evolve, and you always have to evolve with the game.” The biggest thing for him, and I completely agree with it, is relationships and understanding your players and understanding that what gets one player motivated, may not get another player motivated. And as a coach, that’s the fun part, figuring out what gets the most out of Cameron Iwasa, what gets the most out of Villyan Bijev, and that’s the task at hand. That’s the fun part.
Last week, Republic FC announced that Academy Director and U-19 coach Mark Briggs was promoted to first team head coach for the upcoming 2020 United Soccer League Championship season.
Briggs began his professional coaching career in 2012 as a player-coach with the Wilmington Hammerheads, however, when the Englishman had the opportunity to coach a girls U-12 team, that was the moment he discovered his passion for it.
Now, the former West Bromwich Albion midfielder will be leading the boys in Old Glory Red from the touchline as the Indomitable Club preps for its seventh USL Championship campaign. And Briggs is looking forward to applying all the soccer knowledge he’s obtained over the years into building a competitive club in Sacramento.
You’ve coached a variety of different age groups, from a girls U-12 team to a USL side that hoisted a Supporters Shield. Is there a big difference in coaching academy kids versus established veteran players?
I think the beauty of this sport is whether it’s Cameron Iwasa or a U-12 academy kid, if you’re playing the sport and you want to improve, you always want to be coached. If I can help a U-12 kid improve, it’s the same as if I can help Cameron Iwasa improve. As professionals, they want to get better, they want someone who is going to buy into them. They want somebody who is going to pay them the attention to see them improve, to give them little details that could potentially make them better. So, I think whether it’s a young kid or whether it’s a top professional, they all strive to get better and it’s my job as a coach to figure out a way to make Cameron better, to figure out a way to make a U-12 player better, and that’s the part I enjoy.
Having played professionally in Europe and the United States, what’s the best piece of soccer advice you’ve picked up along your journey?
From a player perspective, when I was younger, I think you try to complicate the game too much. Whether it’s trying to impress your coach or the supporters, whatever the case may be, you try to complicate the game. One of my old coaches said to me “the first pass you see is usually the best pass” and it stuck with me and I tried to simplify my game. You realize as you get older that the players that do well and have good careers do the simple things consistently.
What about the coaching perspective, what have you learned along the way?
I had good coaches growing up, I was very fortunate. I had John Gorman who was assistant coach for England, and Glenn Hoddle, and Richard O’Kelly who is now an assistant coach at Aston Villa. But as a player, when I was that young coming through, you don’t really take or appreciate the level of coaching you’re getting. I didn’t appreciate it until I became a coach. I played in Malta and I had an Italian coach and it was the first time I started to take note of the tactical aspects and the amount of detail that it takes to be successful with a team. And he was the first one that made me think, woah, I don’t know anything. And I started to look at his attention to detail and all the things that he brought to the table and I learned a lot from him. I thought it was very productive for me and my future and I took a lot of notes and took things in and tried to bring that into me as a coach. The attention to detail, the simplicity in your the communication, making the players happy, putting them in an environment where they are comfortable to express themselves. Just those types of things that sometimes you don’t appreciate as a player.
You had the opportunity to meet Jose Mourinho while he was managing Manchester United when the English club toured the U.S. a few years ago. Was there anything he told you that really resonated with you?
He said, “remain humble, focus on the details. Focus on the details and the person.” He said, “I have no doubt you could probably go out on the field and run a training session right now with my group of players at Manchester United. The majority of professional coaches can do that, but the best ones connect with their players. The best ones get the best out of their players. Now, you have to figure out your way of doing that.” That was kind of his advice in a nutshell. He said, “keep continuing to learn from a coaching perspective, from a tactical perspective. The game continues to evolve, and you always have to evolve with the game.” The biggest thing for him, and I completely agree with it, is relationships and understanding your players and understanding that what gets one player motivated, may not get another player motivated. And as a coach, that’s the fun part, figuring out what gets the most out of Cameron Iwasa, what gets the most out of Villyan Bijev, and that’s the task at hand. That’s the fun part.
