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Journeyman midfielder and Wilmington Hammerheads coach Mark Briggs will be joining Real Monarchs’ coaching staff, according to a report from a Wilmington, North Carolina-based reporter.
Former @WilmHammerheads coach Mark Briggs tells me he has signed a 2-year contract to be an assistant coach with the USL's Real Monarchs.
— Jackson Fuller (@JacksonFullerSN) November 17, 2016
Briggs will have a role with the Monarchs and with the MLS club Real Salt Lake. He leaves for Utah sometime after Thanksgiving.
— Jackson Fuller (@JacksonFullerSN) November 17, 2016
Briggs, 34, began his coaching career only in 2015 at Wilmington Hammerheads. It’s unclear what exactly this means for Monarchs’ coaching staff, but he’s immediately the most experienced head coach at a professional level on their books.
Certainly, that role would have been held before by Freddy Juarez, who didn’t have much experience in the way of coaching professionals prior to joining Monarchs, given he had been working at Real Salt Lake’s Arizona-based academy — with great success, it must be added.
This story will be updated with additional details as they become available. We’re particularly curious about the second tweet from the reporter, who says that Briggs “will have a role with the Monarchs and with the MLS Club Real Salt Lake.” While we’re not entirely sure what that role will be, we’re certainly curious about what it means.