Mark Briggs named 2017 USL Coach of the Year

Named the head coach of Real Monarchs SLC after the season’s first match when parent club Real Salt Lake promoted Mike Petke to be their new head coach, Briggs won 41 percent of the vote by team management and a league-wide media pool. Briggs proudly professes to never be satisfied and now has yet another reason to continue the drive into a new season and a new home field at Zions Bank Stadium at the academy in Herriman.

“I’m honored to win the Coach of the Year award. It hasn’t really hit home because I’m preparing for next year where we’re already trying to bring in the players we want for next year and planning for another successful year,” said Briggs. “I loved every minute of this season, but I love what I do, I’m passionate about what I do and hopefully I can do it for a long time.”

The Wolverhampton, England native was originally hired to be an assistant to now-RSL assistant coach Freddy Juarez after leading the Wilmington Hammerheads during the 2016 USL season and a US Open Cup match with RSL. With both Petke and Briggs new to Salt Lake and the RSL organization they quickly put together a plan to shape a team identity and help the Monarchs find the success that eluded them in their first two seasons. That plan persisted as Briggs moved to head coach and, together with his staff of Matt Glaeser and Jamison Olave, guided the Monarchs to a first-ever USL postseason berth and an impressive 20-5-7 (67 points) record over the course of the 2017 USL regular season.