Every word Mark Briggs said on team culture, his principles and his ambitions for Birmingham Legion FC
Here's every single word the Three Sparks' new head coach said as he met the Birmingham media for the first time today after practice
After becoming just the second permanent head coach in Birmingham Legion history yesterday, Mark Briggs met the local media today for his official introduction.
Joined by Jay Heaps, the club’s CEO and Chief Soccer Officer, the 43-year-old Englishman spoke well on a range of topics.
I had the privilege of attending the press conference and transcribed every single word said at the Dunnavant Valley Training Facility.
The interview started with opening statements by both Heaps and Briggs before moving on to the questions portion of the evening.
Jay Heaps opening statement
Thank you all for coming. It’s exciting to get you guys all out here to to be able to meet our new head coach.
When you're going through a transition, there could be challenges, but you can have different kinds of excitement about it as well, so when we started this process of making an evaluation of a new leader, we went through an extensive search. [We] interviewed a lot of different people, but Mark stood out pretty much really early in that he's got excellent USL experience, not just coaching, but also having success in USL.
And what also stood out was his process. Very, very detailed-oriented, tactical acumen, but also how he builds culture. If you look at the players he has, he develops players, but he develops them into a unit and a great group of men. And so that was something that really, really took our club in in the right direction. I’ll pass it on to to Mark, but really excited to be able to introduce Mark Briggs as our next head coach.
Mark Briggs opening statement
Nice to meet you guys, hopefully the start of a long relationship.
I'm super excited to be here. I think what Jay spoke about there with me is obviously very complimentary, but for me, when I first spoke to Jay, there was an immediate connection. Not just about football and about philosophies that way, there's just an immediate connection and I was excited to work with him. So that for me was the first process in wanting this position.
And then you look at the roster, you look at the quality, you look at the facilities and the buildings that you guys are in, everything's here to be successful. And now it's just about pushing the level. It's about making the players aware of where we want to go and giving them a vision that they can get behind and feel a part of.
Q: When Jay talked about culture, what's the most important part of the process of building that culture in your opinion?
Mark Briggs: I think first and foremost, it's you hear music playing. When I first got here, there was no music playing. You have to enjoy where you come to work. You have to enjoy what you do. For me, this is the best job in the world, you know, and hopefully my energy can rub off on those guys.
But we're under pressure. That pressure's a privilege, as you've probably heard many times, but you have to enjoy what you do. And when you enjoy what you do, you see the level of performance, you see the culture grow. And that's the first step for me. Enjoy being here, enjoying being a part of a special organization and enjoy what you do.
Q: What have you seen from the team so far in terms of the rest of the season? What do you kind of expect to see from the guys?
MB: Look, we all want results, that's the name of the game, right? I think first and foremost, it's really important to to give Tommy credit for the pieces that him and Jay have put in place. And then also give Jay and Avi (Eric Avila, interim head coach) incredible credit for what they've done over the last three weeks.
It's been really difficult for them, and they've done an incredible job getting the team positive, getting the team results. So now for me coming in, it's made my life a little bit easier. But it's very important that we don't just throw all sorts of information at them and confuse things. So it's about being simple, giving them some clarity, but lifting the level and the standards of everything that we do.
Q: How would you compare Birmingham, England, to Birmingham, Alabama?
MB: That was another part of why I'm here to be honest with you. Obviously I'm from just outside of Birmingham back in England. And being in Birmingham now, it kind of felt like home from home. Even the people, how receptive they are, how hard working they are. Something just clicked, and something just felt right.
Q: You have spoken in the past about your desire to go back to England. Coming here to a team that's in a league where you have already proven yourself, what do you hope that this can bring you in your next step?
MB: I think my vision as a coach, I wanted to be in an organization where I believed in what they were trying to do. And whether that's in England, whether that's in America, wherever that is. And when I spoke to Jay, I believed in what Jay wants to do, I believed in where the leadership of the club, the ownership of the club want to take this project. And that's why I'm so fortunate that Jay gave me the opportunity to be this leader. Where my career goes, who knows? My focus is making Birmingham as best as it can be.
Q: What kind of playing style do you want to instill in this team and how well do you think the roster is gonna be able to achieve that?
MB: That’s a great question. I think first and foremost, the talent on the roster is there for everyone to see. I think from a playing standpoint, we want to value the ball, we wanna be courageous, we wanna have courage. And what I mean by courage is to continue to want the ball, don't hide behind people, whether you make a mistake or not. I just said to the guys actually, I’ll never scream at you if you make a mistake and you're trying to pass the ball, but if you don't react and you throw your arms up and you blame somebody else, I'm gonna crush you.
So I want them to want the ball. I want them to play. I want it to be an attractive style. And then when we don't have the ball, to be quite honest, I want us to be horrible. I want us to be nasty to play against. I want good men off the field that are humble and treat people the right way, but when we cross that white line, we've got to represent Birmingham and we've got to die for the crest that's on our chest. And that's the attitude that we have to install.
Q: Historically, Sacramento especially, you played with either three or five in the back in this league. Is that something you think you’ll be able to do here or are we gonna see some form of four-back as we have typically seen?
MB: I think as I get to implement my philosophy, I think my philosophy is about principles, so the systems kind of is what it is. It can be a four, it can be a three, it can be different systems. It's about the principles and the players understanding those principles, and utilizing what you have. Utilizing the players that I currently have and recognizing their strengths and their weaknesses. And are we a better team in a three or are we a better team in a four? That remains to be seen.
Q: The resume was really good, but what was it about the conversation where you go, that's my guy?
Jay Heaps: Ten seconds before, when he was talking about what he looks for in the locker room, for me that is exactly what I feel drove me instantly. Hearing him speak about the game, I get chills, right? And I can tell that's gonna infuse the players to really buy into what he wants to do, from what his standards are, his principles are. And then formation, for me, again, that’s a great question, how do we build a team around what we currently have? And then if we need to make some changes here and there, to build the best possible lineup we can have each week. For me, if we can maximize the talent on that roster, he'll be able to do it, and that's something to me that stood out right away.
Q: Tommy was fired very early in the season. After giving him the offseason to turn things around, why was now the right decision to make this change?
JH: First of all, very tough decision. I think we talked about it. It was not something that was made overnight. It was a a process of kind of evaluating what it would look like, through preseason, like you said, off season, preseason, it kind of started the season. And so results are obviously what you're looking at first and foremost, but then it's also performance. It's about where were the players and what were we getting out of each player?
And so that became something that I wanted to really look at, dive into. And look, there's not one person responsible for a coach being let go. It's everyone. And I felt it as hard as anyone, and the players felt it. So that's the hard part of a transition. I think that was something that hit us there, as Mark said, was a challenging three and half weeks to kind of get moving forward past that.
But now we're at the exciting part of bringing in a new leader, bringing in someone that brings the values that you're trying to continue to build, or even reset as we start this season or continue the season. And I said to him earlier, there’s nothing harder than taking over a team without a long preseason, without a lot of time to work through kind of the nuances of how you wanna play, how you wanna build.
But at the same time, I do think Mark’s smart enough, he knows the league, he understands what it takes to win at this level. And so it's not gonna be fixed Saturday. It's gonna take some time to get there. So there's gonna be a grace period of time to really figure out what the best way for us to play is, but for me, starting day one, the music on, the culture, the guys, the way they respond, that is really further ahead than we've been. And I'm excited about that.
Q: Avila was an assistant, then interim and will be staying with you as an assistant. How important will he be to this transition?
Mark Briggs: Huge, he knows the players, he's been here a long time. He's just been in a position of leadership, so it’d be foolish of me not to lean on Jay, not to lean on Avi. They know the players better than I do, so it's about getting the right information and me dissecting it and then delivering it in a way that gets the guys excited.
Q: Can we expect any more additions to the coaching staff?
Jay Heaps: Yes, but not so much on field. We're really revamping and adding to our analytics department, and so you'll see some new hires to help on the scouting and recruitment, but also the on field performance. So those will be added, and then I think we wanted to give Eric time and Mark time to kind of adjust and see, but as time goes on maybe one or two coaches that we look at. But the next announcement will be kind of an analytics development that we're doing.
Q: You had a brief overlap with Matt van Oekel back at Real Monarchs. Do you remember it at all and have you spoken to him before joining?
Mark Briggs: Yeah, I remember Matt, and Phanny (Phanuel Kavita) was there just before I get there as well. So there's a knowledge of those guys. Great guys. Good people, good players, fortunate to have them in our locker room,
Q: MVO, obviously older in age, you are obviously younger in age than our previous coach. You look at a lot of coaches that have a lot of success in leagues like this, a lot of them are younger in a lot of senses. How do you go about bridging that gap from your age to, you know, your oldest player to your youngest player? Do you find that's easier knowing that you are younger versus some of maybe the older coaches?
MB: I think for me, it's about people. And no matter what their age is, if you treat everyone the same and you connect with people, they understand that you want what's best for them. I think it's a about relationships, right? And I think those relationships are what create culture, are what drives performance, and I think that's the biggest thing for me. Whether that's impacted by I'm a little bit closer in age to them, that may be helpful, but I think it's just about treating people the right way, always being open-minded and always understanding that sometimes I don't know it all.
Sometimes Jay might say something where I'm like, “God.” Sometimes a player might say something where I'm like “they’re right.” Sometimes I might do an interview and you guys say something and I'm like, “Jesus,” you know? So I think it's about being open-minded and being able to put your hand up and say, guys, I was wrong, you know?