Riverhounds Notebook: Bob Lilley’s 400 wins is tops among coaches with American professional clubs and it’s not even close

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

All that mattered to Bob Lilley on Saturday what that his Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC came away with a crucial three points at Birmingham, keeping the Hounds in contention to reach the USL Championship postseason for the seventh straight season since he arrived in Pittsburgh.

With an emphatic 3-0 win at Birmingham, a crucial victory for the club’s playoff chances, also saw a major milestone for Lilley, as the veteran coach earned his 400th professional win.

“This season with the struggle we had at the start, it’s been rewarding to see how we’ve been playing now,” Lilley exclaimed.

“Watching the growth of this team — we’re better team now. This year has shown how hard it is to win in this league now.  Still, group’s been laser focused each week. Trying to grind out each result.  (We’ve) been better and better with group being dialed up, playing with a sense of urgency — we addressed early in season but there was a sense of complacency. There’s nothing like an emergency like when you’re in it. We’re at that point.”

The Hounds cannot rest on laurels of this impressive win in Alabama or that they’ve gone eight matches without a loss.

Nope. The next match is just as critical as the last one.

The players are right back in training and the coaches are putting together game plans this week, looking to prepare for another crucial road match, taking on 5th place Indy Eleven. who are in a very interesting place in their 2024 campaign, with just one win in their last nine league matches.

Yet, the Eleven were among the talk of U.S. Soccer, as they played late into the night Tuesday in their U.S Open Cup semifinal match at Sporting KC — losing 2-0 to the MLS side.

Lilley and the Riverhounds were watching as the Eleven came up just short of the US Open Cup Final, but will be a refocused group as they jump back into league play.

Lilley and his coaching staff will have their hands full, as Indy were a tough match-up when they played at Highmark Stadium earlier this season, with Indy prevailing, 2-1.

“We are in good form, but this will be a tough match-up,” Lilley said.

“One thing I can say about Indy, is they know how to win tight games. They can score in blink with the talent they have.  Their focus be on league now as they don’t have the Open Cup.  They’ll be ready to go. In the standings, everyone closed gap on them. Every game moving forward is going to be like a playoff game.”

Pittsburgh has been fairly inconsistent with finishing all season, but their last two road matches, they’ve pulled out impressive wins at Sacramento (1-0) and rediscovered attacking prowess at Birmingham.

“As a team, it’s important to finish our chances,” said Lilley, who made one key lineup change in last week’s win, putting Babacar Diene back in the starting eleven.

“But Baba [Diene], not having a start in a while, had a nice assist on Kizza’s goal and added some size. Then we were able to bring EJ [Johnson] in there, and he got a goal. As a group, I thought they did well to execute the game plan we had coming in.”

Both here in this space in early August, then straight from Lilley’s mouth a few weeks later (after the Hounds’ disappointing 2-2 draw vs Colorado Springs), the minimum amount of points the Hounds need to reach to probably secure a postseason spot hovers around 46-50 points.

With a win on Saturday, Pittsburgh is now sitting on 31 points with eight matches left. Doing the math, they need to win at least five or six more matches to reach this secure zone, especially since most of the teams they’re chasing have a game or even two at hand on them. Indy Eleven (35 points), though they’re in 5th place, are only four points ahead of Pittsburgh.

Buckle up folks, things are just getting heated up, as the Hounds still have very little room for error.

Lilley: “It’s Nice To See It’s Added Up To Something”

Winning 400 matches is impressive on so many levels, but when you compare Bob Lilley to all of his other peers among the North American soccer landscape, his win total coaching professional clubs is unmatched.

After discussing and breaking down his current team’s status and sharing more about preparations for a tough road task at Indy on Saturday, Lilley took a moment to reflect on this accomplishment.

“It’s nice to see it’s all added up to something.  When you do something you enjoy what you do, and love being involved, it’s rewarding,” Lilley humbly stated.

“I’ve been striving to do the best job I can. It’s nice. I’ve had a lot of talented teams. Many great players. Been involved with good organizations who’ve done good job supporting me, players I’ve coached, staff I’ve worked with, to enable me to be part of winning environments that have put in place by staff, and by ownership.”

While we’ve come a long way with record-keeping, and professional soccer has never really sustained ongoing sustainability in the United States prior to the 1990s, with the exception of NASL’s run in the 1970s and 1980s, it wasn’t until the formation of the A-League, then when MLS came upon the scene, where we’ve been able to keep up some level of records, including those for professional coaches.

While it took some internet research without one comprehensive database to turn to, it’s safe to say that there is not another active American coach across the U.S. pro soccer landscape who has more wins than Lilley.  Across 25 seasons of head coaching at the pro level, which began with a five-year run in Hershey, Lilley holds an all-time record of 400-191-187, giving him more wins than any other active coach at in the U.S. at the professional club level. He has logged at least a .500 winning percentage during each regular season and has led his team into the postseason every year. In 2010, Lilley was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame as a coach.

After the 2017 USL Championship season ended, Lilley, who grew up in Carlisle, PA, came to Pittsburgh with impressive credentials, having won multiple pro titles and trophies, holding managerial posts with Hershey (A-League), Montreal (A-League), Vancouver (A-League) and Rochester (USL twice), plus with Detroit Ignition of Major Indoor Soccer League in 2007.

With the Riverhounds, Lilley has amassed 113 of his 400 wins (113-63-55).  Immediately, Lilley had an impact with the Hounds, as the franchise shifted from being a meddling, middle of the road third division club, to consistent winners in the second division.  Under Lilley’s guidance, the Hounds have finished first in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference twice (2019 & 2023), won the Players Shield (USL Championship Overall Points Leader in 2023).

“When I came to Pittsburgh, wanted that part of equation where we had potential to do a lot of great things and ownership behind us. With (owner) Tuffy (Shallenberger), we’ve grown tremendously last few years, selling out Highmark Stadium. We’re much more successful, productive on business side as well,” Lilley explained.

Always looking ahead, Lilley’s determined to finish this season and his tenure in Pittsburgh to continue to reach for new heights.

“For continued sustainable success, we have had all parts dialed in.  (Building AHN Montour Run in) Coroapolis, growth of academy, ticket sales, it’s all part of it. Tuffy came on board before I got here. He’s worked hard to make this a destination club for players. We want to get in playoffs and make a run — because there’s still things we want to achieve. So, it’s been tough to think much about (reaching milestone 400 wins), when we have so much in front of us. We still have to get there.”

Once, in a 2020 USL Championship coaches survey conducted by The Athletic, Lilley earned the highest marks among his fellow coaches, as the clear choice to the question, “Which opposing current or former USL Head Coach do you admire the most?” 

Measuring Up Bob Lilley’s 400 Wins With Professional Clubs Total Among his Peers

By comparison, Lilley’s overall coaching record among some of his peers on the U.S. pro soccer circuits, you can’t find anyone close to his 400 wins in professional soccer matches in all competitions.

Among MLS coaches, before he stepped down last season, Bruce Arena has the most wins of all Major League Soccer (MLS) coaches with 327. Here are some other recent or past MLS coaches with the most professional wins: Sigi Schmid: (320), Peter Vermes (249), Bob Bradley (249), Dominic Kinnear (215), Óscar Pareja (222), Frank Yallop (183), Greg Vanney (170), Jim Curtin (169) and Ben Olsen (166).  Among this group, Vermes (Sporting KC), Olsen (Houston), Pareja (Orlando City SC) and Curtin (Philly Union) are still active, with only Curtin (10 years) and Vermes (15 years) having longer tenures than Lilley’s current time in Pittsburgh.  Bradley, who also coached the USMNT from 2006-2011 and Egypt (2011-13) has a total of 365, but comes in less than Schmid and Vermes if you go strictly by coaching pro clubs.  Yallop coached both in USLC (Monterey Bay — but recently stepped down) and MLS.  Pareja also coached in Mexico (Tijuana).  Kinner is now an assistant in Cincinnati, having last served as a head coach with LA Galaxy.   There are some who may make the argument that if you add Arena’s 81 wins in his two stints with the USMNT, then he exceeds Lilley by a few victories (408).

On the opposing sideline on Saturday night for Birmingham was Tom Soehn, who is slightly older than Lilley and coached in MLS with DC United, Vancouver and New England in addition to his current run with Birmingham (since 2019). By comparison, Shoen has won 148 matches with four clubs overall.

Despite all of the wins and all of the success Lilley has reached, even taking the Riverhounds to new heights, there’s an accomplishment he’s cherishing the most right now — winning a USL Cup in Pittsburgh.

Multiple Hounds Earn Team of Week Honors

Riverhounds SC was well-represented on this week’s USL Championship Team of the Week, led by Edward Kizza and Luke Biasi in the starting 11, head coach Bob Lilley in the coach slot and goalkeeper Eric Dick earning a bench spot on the Week 25 team announced by the league this afternoon.

Kizza led the line in the Hounds’ 3-0 win Saturday at Birmingham Legion FC, scoring the first two goals for his third two-goal game since joining the Hounds in 2022. His strikes, which came five minutes apart in the 34th and 39th minute, also gave him four goals in his last three visits to Birmingham’s Protective Stadium. It is the second Team of the Week honor this year for Kizza, who was the Player of the Week in Week 7 of this season.

Biasi earns his first Team of the Week honor after playing a crucial role on the back line in the Hounds’ fourth shutout in five August matches. The defender won 4 of 5 tackles and 9 of 11 duels overall, winning possession for the side six times. He also had a match-leading five clearances, and added a blocked shot in the all-around performance.

Lilley was named the Coach of the Week for the second time in 2024 — the first season that has been included in the weekly honors. The Hounds’ veteran boss picked up his 400th career win leading professional teams, more than any active coach in a U.S.-based professional league.

For the third time in four weeks, Dick is the bench goalkeeper for the Team of the Week. In the shutout against Birmingham, Dick made six saves — his second-highest total of the season — and he remains second in the Championship with 10 clean sheets on the season.

Upcoming Riverhounds’ coverage from PSN…

Look for a more detailed preview of the Hounds’ match at Indy — and more from Lilley on that match-up. PSN’s Colton Coreschi also visited practice this week and will have his Captain’s Quarters feature with Danny Griffin dropping soon.