Covering Union II during the 2024 season was an honor and privilege as the talented young squad rode success all the way to an Eastern Conference trophy. They ultimately came up short at the MLS Next Pro Cup at North Texas, however the players, coaches, fans, and the stories made the season so memorable. Leading the squad with his development-first philosophy, Coach Marlon LeBlanc saw the second team grow and buy in to the training, while enjoying a high level of success. As Marlon always stressed, development was the focus over winning. As the team continued in their development, the winning came and the team was dominant for being so young.
After the season concluded, Marlon did not return to coaching the squad, and awaits his next opportunity. Recently, he coached the Men’s U-18 Youth National Team camp in Marbella, Spain, and is doing some ventures with Brendan Sullivan (Quinn and Cavan’s dad). He is also using the sort of sabbatical to enjoy some much deserved quality time with his family. We caught up with Marlon for a wonderful conversation on our “The One Team We Agree On” podcast, where he discussed his coaching journey and future plans. We got to hear about his time at Penn State, WVU, and Philadelphia, as well as his recent national team experience. We learned about the sacrifices he and his family made for his son Kellan’s soccer development. We even got a great Jack Elliott story (you’ll have to listen to the pod for that one, and so much more).
Here are a few snippets from the interview with Marlon, and please check out the full episode once it is released Thursday, 4/10.
Coach Marlon LeBlanc on why he coaches:
Originally I started coaching because I felt like I maybe gave up playing too early and wanted to stay involved. Then I fell in love with the game and wanted to and felt like I could help other players fall in love with the game. Then as I started going through, like the coaching education process and the licensing, licensing and the school and all that kind of thing, you know, you started to feel like you were getting better at it, and you wanted to see how good can I really get at this thing. Then when I got into college, I probably got it. Wanted to coach, because it was a paycheck, you know. And then when I started a family, I wanted to support my family. And then when I started to have kids, I wanted to teach them what maybe I didn’t do quite as well.
And then, you know, as you get to now… Philadelphia, and it’s about the development. It’s like my whole reasoning completely went to, ‘I want to see these kids achieve their dreams,’ and so, and I felt like I was uniquely able to help them move on that pathway towards achieving their dreams. And so I’ve had this whole evolution of why. I don’t know if any one is more important than the other, but I think it’s constantly evolving, and it’s constantly changing, and depending on what I do next, and even with the national team, you know, it was a little bit different, and why I’m coaching.
So I guess, in a long winded answer and in terms of what your question was, I don’t have one answer for you, but I do think it’s something that continues to change, continues to evolve, continues to find different and new meanings. And certainly I think, you know, it becomes more and more fulfilling.
On his favorite moment from the 2024 Union II season:
You know, I think from day one, from probably talking to you guys, and maybe even before talking to you guys, I told you we’d never, ever, ever put winning and the will to win ahead of the development process. Always believed, if we developed properly, the winning would come. And the winning happened in year one. It happened in year two, but it really took another level in year three of Next Pro, and yes, we made the playoffs all three years. It was never the goal to make the playoffs and to win MLS Next Pro. The goal for me was always, truly, and it never wavered, about the individual development process and the belief that doing it that way would lead to team success. And you know, I think the best memory was honestly getting to see those guys lift that trophy, because it was everything that it could possibly have been for their individual development and their betterment as as players and as human beings, with the success of winning something as a team. And trust me, they had the goal to win. They all wanted to win last year. But as coaches, we never made it more important than what the objective was about, which was doing what we could to help them.
And so my greatest success, and I was asked earlier and thinking the season was, you know what, what was your best moment? And it was getting to stay always, and it always has been standing out there with their shirts, and that was the prize, that was the trophy, because that was ultimately the number one goal and ambition. I can say to you right now, still doing that was still even better than winning the Eastern Conference Championship, because that was still the number one goal was, was them making it to the first team, them developing, getting better, or going to college, whatever it might have been. But then for me, what was probably the saddest, most satisfying part, maybe not the best part of last season, but the most satisfying part was sticking to your guns as a coach and doing what you believe in principle wise, and still getting what you thought you could get out of the group collectively as well, which was winning a championship and doing it the way that we did it. There was proof now to the concept of of what we’ve been talking about year after year and game after game, and seeing it kind of come to fruition was really satisfying.
On the successes of players he coached that have gotten to the first team and beyond, like Paxten Aaronson, Jack McGlynn, Frankie Westfield, Cavan Sullivan, and more:
Yeah, you know, I obviously do still follow the club, and I will probably for the next six years, at least. My kid will be around here for a long time. But you know, it’s no different with Paxten and Jack McGlynn now that he’s in Houston and Brandan [Craig] in Montreal, like I still have relationships with all these guys and and with Frankie. You know, I’m really close to Frankie, because he was the guy- one of the guys I started off with when I came to the Philadelphia Union and got to see his evolution as a player. But for me, because it was about the relationships and the individual more than it was about the results and the winning. But guys like Frankie will forever be, you know, part of the puzzles that are put together to complete me as a coach.
And it’s not just the Frankies of the world. Ian Abbey, who went from Rutgers to Providence, you know, I still communicate and have relationship with him, Jackson Gilman, who’s at Pitt, I got to see not too long ago- like all these guys, when, for me, coaching is about relationships, and then will never stop being about the relationships. And so I’ll continue to support and talk to Frankie from afar. I got to, you know, to see Eddie Davis and those guys not that long ago as well. Eventually, I’ll make an appearance at a Union II game. So far, the the schedules haven’t worked out to be able to do that. But eventually, I’ll make an appearance, and I’ll get to see them.
But look, I’m incredibly proud of Frankie and and Quinn and Cavan and Makhanya and all of those guys, and the next ones are coming soon, and whether it’s here or in college or or in Houston or in Chicago, those relationships, I think, are stronger than, you know, just these moments that we have in time. And the more you kind of foster and you work at them, the better they become. And, you know, Jack just had a baby, and, like, was that Ray’s about to have a second? Like, there’s so many cool things that are going on in these guys’ lives that go far and beyond the field that I think that that’s just as important as watching them, you know, get to finally get to step on that field with the first team on on Saturday nights, also being invested in their lives as young men- that won’t go away.
Please be sure to check out the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or on our YouTube channel.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
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