Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II Communications
Marlon LeBlanc should become the new head coach of the Philadelphia Union. My argument is long, so I begin with a simplified condensation. I have observed his coaching skills with Philadelphia Union II since August 2020.
A bullet point summary
- LeBlanc has yet to experience coaching in Major League Soccer.
- Tanner has successfully brought in Germans with limited experience in the United States to lead Americans once, but he failed poorly in another attempt.
- As a general principle, Keystone Sports prefers to promote from within whenever possible.
- A generational roster transition, already underway with the Philadelphia Union, will need to continue and accelerate.
- Any new coach’s longer-term task will be to develop the younger talent to join the first team’s reserves over the next few years.
- Marlon LeBlanc has been learning the organization’s principles of play and philosophy since March 2020, achieving consistent success. Within those principles, he has prepared and demonstrated tactical flexibility.
- LeBlanc knows the Union’s current reserves better than any newcomer could, as almost all of them have already played for him.
- LeBlanc has successfully stepped in as an interim coach three times, leading to two permanent head coach positions, including one with Union II. He has proven his ability to advance in his career.
Now, I will further develop the argument.
LeBlanc still here
Philadelphia Union social media conversationalist @UnionRumors re-posted Jose Roberto Nunez’s original post from November 11 that Curtin’s assistant coach Pat Richter had been re-assigned as head coach of Philadelphia Union II. (Click here.) If Nunez is correct, Marlon LeBlanc can no longer be Philadelphia Union II’s head coach.
However, on Thursday morning, November 20, when this writer attended Union II practice at 9:30, LeBlanc appeared to still be with the Philadelphia Union organization since he was present and observing practice. Coach Richter did not seem to be present, but many of the usual members of LeBlanc’s staff were spotted.
LeBlanc watched the end of the practice, called the group together, and then conversed at some length with Sporting Director Ernst Tanner as they walked away from the practice field toward Subaru Park, where Union II still has its locker room.
LeBlanc’s 2024 season
Marlon LeBlanc had an excellent year in 2024. At his press conference at the end of the championship game, he said in so many words that his starting lineup was the youngest in the league and that his entire squad was among the league’s youngest.
That lineup and squad had recovered from its annually built-in late summer slump to finish second in its conference and make a postseason run of historic proportion, highlighted by Union II’s impressive victory over Columbus Crew 2 in the Eastern Conference Final. It is an article of faith among all coaches in all sports that some aspect of performance can constantly be improved. After that Columbus clean sheet, LeBlanc said he was satisfied with that game’s performance.
Such success is always a group effort. A head coach cannot take full credit, but he is responsible for nurturing, coordinating, focusing, and directing it. Sometime in the beginning of the season, LeBlanc commented that he liked his 2024 team. Watching practices occasionally it was clear that his group had something special. He, his staff, and his players kept that chemistry going the entire season.
If other professional youth development soccer teams need to replace their coaches, Marlon LeBlanc is likely to be on their “preliminary inquiries” lists. This applies not only to youth development teams but also to professional teams in general that may be looking to replace their head coaches. LeBlanc could be a candidate on their lists as well.
LeBlanc’s coaching career
After a successful high school soccer career in Hightstown, New Jersey, LeBlanc joined the Penn State soccer team in 1994 under head coach Barry Gorman. He graduated in 2000.
As noted by his PSU soccer colleague Greg Oldfield in a 2021 article, which we strongly commend to any reader’s attention (click here), LeBlanc took over the Penn State women’s club team in 1996 and led them to back-to-back national finals in 1997 and 1998. By organizing training sessions, schedules, travel arrangements, and fundraising, as well as conducting on-campus recruiting, LeBlanc transformed a group of motivated women seeking to extend their competitive careers into a national powerhouse. In 2001, men’s coach Gorman added LeBlanc to his coaching staff as an assistant. Along the way, LeBlanc earned a master’s degree from Ohio University.
Throughout his coaching career, LeBlanc has successfully stepped into emergency roles on short notice twice before joining the Union.
First, in 2002 in his second season as an assistant at Penn State, he stepped in as interim head coach for seven games when coach Gorman was temporarily removed from the position due to having back surgery. The Nittany Lions won four games, including one over nationally ranked Boston College, and lost three.
In 2006, West Virginia hired him away from Penn State on the first day of its men’s soccer preseason after the previous coach was dismissed due to an NCAA investigation that later uncovered numerous violations. That year, LeBlanc guided the Mountaineers to 15 victories, achieving a remarkable conference record of 9-0-1 and securing a berth in the NCAA tournament. (Refer to Oldfield’s previously cited article for further details of his 16 years with the Mountaineers.) A non-soccer highlight of interest is that West Virginia earned the United Soccer Coaches Association’s Team Academic Award twelve consecutive years during LeBlanc’s tenure.
The third time he was brought in as an emergency head coach was with Union II, where he replaced Sven Gartung. LeBlanc began conducting practices for Philadelphia Union II on August 1, 2020. Remarkably, only five days into his tenure, on August 5, his team won its first game of the pandemic-affected season, defeating New York Red Bull II 2-1.
Among the myriads of detail that stand out from that second team season, pivotal because it saw Union II withdraw from the USL Championship league at its end, the most significant is that five academy players from LeBlanc’s part-season caretaking signed their first homegrown contracts with the first team. He played a crucial role in restoring their relationships with the club after what had begun as a demoralizing and non-competitive season.
Those five players are Paxten Aaronson, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, Nathan Harriel, and Brandan Craig.
Currently, only Aaronson is no longer part of the organization; he was sold to Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2022 and is now on loan to FC Utrecht in the Dutch first division, where he has started 10 matches out of 12, scoring four goals and playing eight full 90-minute games.
The other four players remain with the Union in some capacity: McGlynn, the older Sullivan, and Harriel are all first-team starters, while Craig is a reserve center back who spent 2024 on loan to El Paso Locomotive of the USL Championship.
Those four are not the only members of the Union’s probable 2025 first team roster who are known to LeBlanc from both practice and game pitches. These are the players who have or have not played for him.
No other candidate to replace Jim Curtin can have the same level of knowledge of next year’s roster.
These are those players who have or have not played for him.
| Has Never Played for LeBlanc | Has Played for LeBlanc | ||||
| Player | Pos | 24 team, role | Player | Pos | 24 team, role |
| Mikael Uhre | S | 1st, starter | Chris Donovan | S | 1st, reserve |
| Tai Baribo | S | 1st, starter | JeremyRafanello | AM | 1st, reserve |
| Daniel Gazdag | AM | 1st, starter | Jack McGlynn | LM | 1st, starter |
| DanleyJeanJacques | DM | 1st, starter | Quinn Sullivan | RM | 1st, starter |
| Kai Wagner | LB | 1st, Starter | Jesus Bueno | RM | 1st, reserve |
| Jakob Glesnes | RCB | 1st, starter | Nathan Harriel | RB | 1st, starter |
| Olivier Mbaizo | RB | 1st, reserve | Markus Anderson | S | 2nd, starter |
| Andre Blake | GK | 1st, starter | Nelson Pierre | S | 2nd,loanout |
| Oliver Semmle | GK | 1st, third | Cavan Sullivan | AM | 2nd, starter |
| Out of Contract, in negotiations | CJ Olney | LM | 2nd, starter | ||
| Alejandro Bedoya | RM | 1st, reserve | David Vazquez | RM | 2nd, starter |
| Frank Westfield* | LB | 2nd, starter | |||
| Isaiah LeFlore | LB | Injury rehab | |||
| Olwethu Makhanya | LCB | 2nd, starter | |||
| Andrew Rick | GK | 1st, backup | |||
| *Expected future homegrown signing | |||||
| Options declined, in negotiations | |||||
| Jack Elliott | LCB | 1st, starter | |||
| Brandan Craig | RCB | 1st,loanout | |||
| Gone | |||||
| Gone | |||||
| J |
|||||
Transitions: the midfield
Philadelphia’s next coach will face the challenge of managing a “generational” transition within the roster. This change is already taking shape among the first-team reserves, and the new head coach will need to oversee this process among the starters.
For LeBlanc, taking on this role would present a significant man-management challenge, as his previous interactions with Jim Curtin’s starting players have likely been both informal and limited.
The generational transition is particularly evident in the midfield, where Alejandro Bedoya will be departing, and Jose Martinez and Leon Flach are already gone.
LeBlanc has been coaching Jack McGlynn and Quinn Sullivan intermittently since August 2020, with both players transitioning into the 2023 and 2024 seasons respectively. A similar situation occurred with Jesus Bueno in 2022. For 2025, LeBlanc has yet to work with the first-team midfielders Daniel Gazdag and Danley Jean Jacques.
In previous seasons with Union II, LeBlanc had to improve his “Spanglish.” Next year, he will need to enhance his “Franglais.” Having a French-speaking assistant coach would be a valuable asset.
Transitions: center back
LeBlanc will need to oversee a generational change in the center back position immediately, though its progression is not as advanced as that of the midfield since no players have left yet. He was Jack Elliott’s head coach at West Virginia from September 2013 through December 2016, during which time Elliott made 68 appearances and scored six goals. On the other hand, LeBlanc and Jakob Glesnes will be getting to know each other next season.
LeBlanc is already familiar with the reserve players. Olwethu Makhanya and presumptive offseason homegrown signing Neil Pierre played the 2024 season as LeBlanc’s center back tandem whenever they were available. Additionally, from 2020 to 2022, Brandan Craig was LeBlanc’s left center back, free kick server, and almost always his game day captain. LeBlanc seems well suited to manage the center back transition if he and Glesnes can develop a relationship.
Transitions: the attack
For the 2025 season, the first team’s attacking trio of starters appears to be clearly identified: Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo will serve as strikers, while Daniel Gazdag will take the attacking midfield position. As the cliché suggests, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
It was announced yesterday that striker Sam Adeniran has officially left Major League Soccer (MLS) to join the Austrian team, LASK Linz. In their announcement, the Philadelphia Union referenced an agreement made in July that stated Adeniran would move to LASK at the end of the 2024 MLS season. The Union had high hopes that Adeniran would be the catalyst to drive them into playoff contention. However, despite these expectations, Adeniran, who was acquired by the Union from St. Louis City SC on July 18 of this year, struggled to find his rhythm in Philadelphia and failed to make a significant impact under coach Jim Curtin. It is likely that Jose Riasco will be signed to take Adeniran’s spot. Riasco’s playing style seems quite similar, he is approximately five years younger, and LeBlanc has known him for nearly two seasons.
Markus Anderson made good progress in learning the Union’s playing system last season, having practiced with the first team while also playing games with Union II. After the championship loss to North Texas, LeBlanc mentioned that Anderson’s inability to continue playing was a setback for Philadelphia’s possession game, given Anderson’s skills in hold-up play. He and Eddy Davis work very well together with Cavan Sullivan, CJ Olney, David Vazquez, and Nick Pariano, all of whom should be considered for next year’s bench.
Anderson has not had any time off from soccer since the fall of 2023. Taking a break this offseason may be beneficial, although this is not a criticism of the efforts made by Philadelphia’s sports medicine team.
from my past remasrks, i would think that management went with the nurturing and development with Leblank makes sense from a financial standpoint. It is shameful for management to insert dollars before the fans. Hopeful for the youngsters but but but.
It’s so Union.