Club legend Rob Vincent joins Riverhounds’ first team coaching staff

Riverhounds SC has named former Hounds star and MLS veteran Rob Vincent to the First Team staff as an assistant coach for the 2024 season.

Vincent, 33, has coached in the Riverhounds Academy since his retirement as a professional player with D.C. United in 2018. With the Academy, Vincent has coached multiple trophy-winning teams and led the club’s decorated ECNL Girls program, and he also served as the coordinator private and small group training.

A native of Liverpool, England, Vincent now joins head coach Bob Lilley‘s staff in the role previously held by Dan Visser, who last week was named the club’s new Sporting Director.

“I am delighted and very grateful to have been given the opportunity to join the First Team staff. I am very excited to learn from Bob, as well as bring my own value to help the club build on last season’s success,” Vincent said.

“I am very thankful to the Riverhounds Academy for giving me the opportunity to join the academy staff back in 2018. The last five-and-a-half years have allowed me to develop as a coach and have readied me for this next step. I look forward to getting to work with Bob, Jon Busch and the team as we prepare for the 2024 season.”

Vincent’s professional career took off in Pittsburgh after being a four-time Division II All-American at the University of Charleston (W.Va.). He first signed with the Hounds prior to the 2013 season and was a key part of the team for three years, culminating with his breakout 2015 season. That year, he earned All-USL First Team honors after scoring 21 goals — still tied for the second-most in a single year in team history — and he became the first Hounds player to score in three consecutive U.S. Open Cup matches, the last of which came against D.C. United at Highmark Stadium.

After the 2015 season, Vincent made the leap to MLS with D.C. United, where he worked his way into the lineup and made 22 appearances and scored two goals. His time with the MLS club was cut short in 2017, when a knee injury ended his season prematurely. Early in 2018, Vincent elected to enter the coaching ranks, returning to Pittsburgh with the Riverhounds Academy.

Vincent now takes his first coaching role with a professional team under Lilley, who earlier this week was named USL Championship Coach of the Year and, at his previous job leading the Rochester Rhinos, coached against Vincent as a player.

“Rob had a strong career as a player and has advanced quickly as a talented young coach working with our academy teams. He is familiar with our staff and many of our players, and he will bring new ideas and energy to our group,” Lilley said.

“Dan Visser was invaluable as my top assistant over the past six seasons and played an important role in our success. Thankfully, he will remain engaged with the First Team as well as add his expertise to other areas of the organization. Although Rob has big shoes to fill, he is ready, and overall, our club has gotten stronger.”

The Riverhounds are coming off a season in which they won the USL Championship Players’ Shield with the league’s best regular-season record, and the team has begun preparations for the 2024 Championship season, which will begin in March.Rob Vincent joins Hounds’ coaching staff