A discreet debut, Avila's tactical tweak, the Heaps situation and a revitalizing win
My Birmingham Legion FC talking points after their 3-1 win over El Paso Locomotive FC in Sunday's USL Championship matchup
It might have taken them six games, but Birmingham Legion FC finally have their first competitive win of 2025.
Following a turbulent week that saw them part ways with the only head coach they’ve ever known, the Three Sparks could breath a big sigh of relief. Under interim Eric Avila, the Black and Gold came back from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 in front of nearly 7,000 home fans to secure their first three points of the campaign.
In a season with still plenty to play for, the result and display did wonders to improve the mood and hopefully kickstart the rest of the year.
A new man in charge… and another on the field
With all the talk pre-game revolving around Tom Soehn’s dismissal and Avila’s subsequent promotion, little was made of the debut of Sam McIllhaton.
Signed over a week prior during the Legion’s bye week, the 26-year-old Australian has experienced quite a start to his life in the United States. In addition to adapting to new surroundings, McIllhaton saw the coach who (presumably) signed him receive his marching orders just five days after his arrival.
Four days later, he was thrown straight into the starting XI for his USL Championship and Birmingham Legion debut.
While McIllhaton didn’t set the world on fire, he was quietly solid in his first appearance in the Magic City. Playing as the deepest man in a three-man midfield, he kept things ticking in the middle of the park with 49 passes — third only to the day’s starting centerback pairing — completed at a 87.8% rate.
With just four assists and no goals in his previous 80 professional appearances over in Australia, McIllhaton is not the kind of midfielder who gets his name on the box score. His presence was much more about what it allowed others to do.
Enzo Martínez has previously been the deepest midfielder this season, but the Uruguayan was given license to move forward thanks to McIllhaton’s cover. As a result, the Legion captain was much more present in the attacking phases of play alongside Kobe Hernandez-Foster, the third starter in midfield. Both were trusted to push up high, at times simultaneously occupying spaces more common to a 10 than an 8.
McIllhaton’s work will have gone unnoticed by many, but there is no doubt it was crucial to the newfound attacking intent displayed by the Three Sparks on Sunday. In a midfield that has struggled to maintain possession and truly create for much of the early 2025 season, the Black and Gold might have just found a winning formula.
Avila’s tactical shift
McIllhaton’s introduction, though important, was not the only change Avila made to the team’s tactics going into his first game as head coach.
As the assistant coach prior to Sunday’s game, Avila would have been intimately familiar with the team’s struggles so far this season. His solution, in addition to a more attacking mindset, came in how the Three Sparks utilized the ball in possession.
Thanks to the new-look midfield, Legion had more control of the center of the park and therefore a stronger ability to build from the back and through the middle.
Avila focused his buildup through the centerbacks, trusting both Ramiz Hamouda and Jake Rufe to bring the ball forward and start attacks from deep. The CB duo combined for 147 passes (split near perfectly at 74 and 73, respectively), a sizeable jump from the roughly 40 the team’s centerbacks had been averaging in previous games.
The result? 426 total passes and a 84.7% passing accuracy, both leading numbers for the Legion this season, the latter by more than 10 percentage points.
One key element to that success was a focus on shorter passes, with only 49 of the 426 passes going long. That’s the lowest number all season despite the higher total pass tally.
It’s no secret that possession is hugely important to the game, and Avila’s tweaks resulted in a much better use of it by his players. Though the Black and Gold still fell short of dominating possession — something they have yet to do in the league this season — opting to prioritize lower-risk short passes allowed for better decision making, an increased and sustained attacking threat and an overall more proactive approach to the game, something that was sorely lacking in the first five games of the season.
And when the team did go long, springing free the likes of Ronaldo Damus, Danny Trejo or Preston Tabort Etaka with through balls, these resulted in significantly more dangerous opportunities. The team’s ball retention allowed them to wait patiently for the right opportunity, while their short passing was sucking the El Paso defence into defending higher up the field and thus creating more space for runners in behind.
Jay Heaps, Chief Soccer Officer
Following the appointment of Nick Hall as the Legion’s first ever CBO, Jay Heaps’ role changed.
Previously the team’s general manager and president, his duties were expanded to include those of CEO and Chief Soccer Officer. Under this new remit, Heaps notably announced his “enhanced focus on soccer operations and first-team performance.”
A week later, Legion fired Soehn, and Heaps’ presence on the soccer side of things grew even greater.
Though Avila became the interim head coach, Heaps has been present at first-team practices, watched over the team as they warmed up before Sunday’s game and sat with the coaching staff on the sidelines during the encounter.
While none of this is necessarily problematic, and a greater connection between on-field matters and the Legion front office might even be a good thing, there is a boundary that Heaps may need to be cautious not to cross.
On Sunday, the Chief Soccer Officer was by far the most active and vocal of the Legion staff, easily eclipsing the newly-minted interim head coach. Any onlooker who did not know who Avila and Heaps were would almost certainly have assumed Heaps to be the head coach, and Avila simply an assistant.
If Heaps does not tread carefully, that behavior could end up undermining a man whose “interim” status might already lessen his authority in the dressing room.
Avila, who in both his sideline presence and post-game media duties came across as significantly more quiet and reserved than the exuberant Heaps, played it down as nothing more than an emotional day for everyone.
“Me and Jay, our relationship is great,” Avila said. “He’s very emotional in a way, he loves… I think it was more of just an excitement just to keep the team going. So we all have a lot of pieces. Jay, I, the team, I think we all had a piece of trying to make the team push forward.”
While it’s good to know that, at least publicly, Avila was not bothered by Heaps’ presence besides him, it will be interesting to see how the partnership evolves over the coming weeks.
Heaps was a manager in Major League Soccer for six years prior to his transition to administrative work in Birmingham, and he may well miss some aspects of it. As someone with a very hands on approach to his job — even during the game he was still barking instructions at gameday staff as well, notably about what replays to show or not on the stadium’s big screen — he needs to make sure he does not overstep his role when dealing with Avila and the players.
If he does, any potential permanent hire for the head coach position could suddenly grow hesitant to join up with a team over which their authority is no longer clearly defined.
More than just a win
A lot of fans felt that the Soehn firing, though maybe unexpected in its timing respective of the bye week, was coming. Some had even been asking for it ever since the Legion missed out on the postseason for the first time last season.
But for the players and staff, it was clearly both a shock and a difficult decision to come to terms with.
“It’s a lot of emotions” Dawson McCartney said. “It’s been a tough week, obviously we were caught off guard with everything that went on.”
Several players expressed how challenging the past week had been, speaking of the sacking almost like a tragic event rather than a man-made, business decision.
While losing a coach is part and parcel of professional sports, Soehn’s lengthy tenure in Birmingham made his departure a bigger hole to contend with than most. Goalkeepers Matt van Oekel and Trevor Spangenberg had been with Soehn ever since the club’s inaugural 2019 season, while Jake Rufe, Phanuel Kavita and Martínez joined in turn the following three years.
From the outside, these decisions are often thought of in terms of cold facts and numbers, like wins and losses. But for the team’s veteran players, Soehn was not just their boss. He was a human they had formed meaningful relationships with over the course of several years working together, and seeing him go was more than just a coaching change.
“It’s going to be rough,” van Oekel said “He’s been more than just my head coach, more than just my mentor. He’s been everything to me.
“He gave me the shot seven years ago, so I’ll forever be grateful for every minute that I got to spend with him,” he added. “I look forward to having a chat with him this evening.”
In addition, firing a head coach is usually an outward sign to the world that something is not right at a club. Coupled with the disappointing start to the season — the worst in Legion history prior to Sunday’s win — and struggles to attract fans to Protective Stadium, the Legion was starting to look like an organization in free fall.
That’s why Sunday’s result felt like a massive relief to many.
“It’s always hard to lose a coach,” Avila said. “For some players it’s always a first, and it’s very difficult. So for us it’s how can we push the guys to go forward and move forward and be in a positive way.
“And usually a win like this helps the whole team out,” he added. “I think the guys were excited and happy, but most importantly that we got three points. Three points is what matters in the league, and that’s what all the excitement is for.”
That excitement lasted well after the final whistle. The home locker room, located right beside the interview room, was erupting with cheers and celebrations throughout the team’s postgame media duties.
Birmingham Legion later posted a team photo to its social media accounts celebrating the first win of the season. Those kind of celebrations and posts are usually reserved for crucial wins like derbies, major upsets or cup semifinals and finals.
For Legion, this win felt just as big. The Three Sparks now need to ensure they harness that momentum to turn the season around for good.
I saw many of the same things on Sunday. Heaps was very animated, and I also worry about the impact on Avila (who I like very much). And the players were pretty open about how hard the week was for them.