Riverhounds make it official that Rob Vincent will permanently replace Bob Lilley as Head Coach

Through a team announcement and on its social media platforms, the Riverhounds SC named Rob Vincent as the team’s new head coach, after he successfully guided the side through the playoffs and to the 2025 USL Championship title in an acting head coach role.

Vincent takes the role last held by Bob Lilley, an American soccer coaching icon, who departs the club with 418 career wins to his name, more than any active coach in U.S. professional leagues. Of those wins, 131 came in Pittsburgh — more than any other stop in his decorated career.

In the club’s release, there was a careful, subtle acknowledgement of Lilley’s accomplishments with the club: “Lilley lifted the organization to the winning standard it holds today by making the playoffs in every year of his tenure, claiming the 2023 Players Shield and assembling the 2025 team that made history by winning the club its first league title.”

With this move there are questions that linger about what exactly happened as the organization has formally moved on from Lilley as Head Coach. Lilley was put on administrative leave in October, and moved to the background, while Vincent and the remaining coaching staff led the Riverhounds to the club’s first-ever League Title.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now has learned from sources, that Lilley was informed and cleaned his items out of his office area the week after the Riverhounds clinched the title.

When reaching out to Riverhounds to find out if there will be something more than a press release to address the coaching change, club spokesman, Director of Media Relations, Matt Grubba said that the club will set something up soon but did not have anything else to share.

Vincent steps into the Head Coach role with full support and confidence from the organization.

“It has been a privilege watching Rob lead the team over the last seven weeks of our season. He’s an outstanding young coach and quickly earned the confidence of players, fans and the entire Riverhounds organization,” Sporting Director Dan Visser said in the same release.

“I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead with Rob at the helm in 2026 and beyond.”

Vincent, 35, has been a coach in the Hounds’ organization since 2018, after he retired from his professional playing career that began in Pittsburgh and later led him to MLS club DC United.

After coaching in the Hounds Academy for six years and earning his USSF A-Senior Coaching License, he became the assistant coach for the Hounds’ pro team in 2024.

“I am delighted and honored to be named Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds,” Vincent shared.

“I want to thank Tuffy (Shallenberger, Hounds owner) and Dan for placing their trust in me to lead the club forward and build on our 2025 Championship winning season.”

Adversity-hardened Rob Vincent keeps Riverhounds focused on day-to-day tasks at hand

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John K’s Immediate Thoughts on Permanent Hire of Rob Vincent

Bob Lilley deserves so much credit for building the club and establishing where it is today.

However, after winning the league title and with Dan Visser in place in the past two years as Sporting Director, the franchise has pushed to develop greater organization stability and had been preparing for the day that Lilley, a hands on coach and the club’s de facto personnel director (general manager or whatever you would want to call it), would be gone.

As stakes become greater in topsy-turvy USL, Riverhounds’ organizational stability put to test

The sudden loss of the team’s Head Coach did not break the 2025 team’s will.

It only made them more resilient.

With strong leadership starting with veterans including team’s captain, Danny Griffin, who is now locked up with a new contract, along with 11 returnees (as of today), Vincent will have a solid core in place to carry on the principles established by Lilley, Visser and all the preceding players who carried on a winning club culture in Pittsburgh.

With Vincent at the helm and proving himself during the end of the season stretch, the Hounds will keep much needed continuity in a competitive and perilous league and environment.

Stay tuned as we’ll have more on this in the coming days and weeks as the Hounds work through challenge of another roster build (one of Lilley’s strengths) to see if they can keep the standard set in the past eight years.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now has reached out to Lilley a few times during the past few months, and thus far he’s had no comment but look forward to catching up with him soon.