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Oceanside, Calif. • For five straight days, Jeff Cassar heard mostly about failure. It was December and the Real Salt Lake head coach was in Orlando, Fla., at a conference for professional American coaches. There, his colleagues in Major League Soccer reflected on their own failures. So did the guest speaker, former Manchester United manager David Moyes.
Moyes, who once rose up the international coaching ranks at Everton FC, lasted all of 10 months on the job at Manchester United after being tabbed successor to soccer legend Sir Alex Ferguson. Like every coach who spoke there, Moyes relayed his own torturous stories of entering a season with high hopes only to see them slowly deflate over the ensuing months of frustration.
This all struck a chord with Cassar. In 2015, the word failure became too familiar for Real Salt Lake's coach.
For the first time since his first year on the RSL staff in 2007, the club was not part of the postseason conversation. RSL finished 11-15-8 with 41 points, good enough for ninth place in the Western Conference, just four points ahead of last-place Colorado.
"Every coach goes through those years where you don't like them. … It's just life," said Cassar, entering his third year as RSL's head coach. "You can't have a winning season every year as a coach. This won't be the first and it won't be the last."
The 42-year-old former MLS goalkeeper is entering the final year of a three-year deal signed in December 2013, when he took over for outgoing RSL coach Jason Kreis.
Reports have surfaced this offseason that Cassar is on the hot seat entering Year 3 as the club's coach. In his own exit interview with owner Dell Loy Hansen and general manager Craig Waibel last October, Cassar told the powers that be that he wasn't satisfied with how 2015 went, "and they needed to know I wasn't satisfied."
Asked if there was a point in the offseason where he thought he might be let go, Cassar said the possibility crept into his mind on a few occasions.
"We took a lot of punches last year, but we're going to keep on fighting," he said.
At the center of fan frustration, Cassar understands how his positivity even in the most disappointing of times, can come off. Make no mistake, there was nothing about last year's misstep that he's particularly fond of — outside of advancing out the CONCACAF Champions League group.
"I want to make, obviously, my owner happy … our players happy and I want to make our fans happy because they're the lifeline of this team," he said. "When you let down people, it's not easy."
Nick Rimando provided perspective on the struggles of a year ago, reminding those wishing for Cassar's removal that his former goalkeeper coach remains a young head coach with just two seasons under his belt.
"I think he'll tell you he's still learning, he's still going to make mistakes, but to be in the spotlight and people calling for his job, I think it's a little harsh," Rimando said. "Behind the scenes, the fans aren't seeing everything."
The newest addition to RSL's coaching staff, Richie Williams, understands what Cassar is going through. A head coach in the U.S. youth national team system the past four years coaching the U-18s and U-17s, Williams often received heat for the struggles of the United States on the international stage — such as the 2015 U-17 World Cup in Chile. The Americans finished winless and last in their group.
"You've got to stick to it, be yourself and coach the way that you feel," said Williams, a coaching disciple of Bruce Arena and Juan Carlos Osorio. "Again, that's me being here to try and help him. Maybe sometimes you're not thinking straight, the rest of the staff has to be there to help."
Cassar's plan to ensure the struggles of 2015 don't repeat in 2016?
He maneuvered through what he's called a "perfect storm" of things going wrong amid serious change. The adjustment to the 4-3-3 formation was slowed due to long-term injuries to players like Joao Plata and Chris Schuler, coupled with losing a handful of starters to national-team duty every time an international window opened. A lot was placed on new faces and unproven youngsters to try and keep the club afloat.
The silver lining: Those young, new faces are more seasoned, and are now coupled with the addition of new and returning veterans like Yura Movsisyan, Sunday Stephen Obayan, Omar Holness and Chris Wingert. Overall, Cassar will be working with much more of a known quantity than last year. But this group must accelerate through shortest preseason in RSL istory. In less than three weeks, the club returns to Champions League against Mexican champs Tigres in a two-leg series.
Improving his own communication with his players was something Cassar realized he needed to refine, acknowledging that he hasn't always been clear enough in defining specific roles for players, be they starters or players off the bench.
"I felt like I really wanted the chance [to continue] this year," he said. "Last year was planting the seeds and this year; it's cultivating them."
Midfielder Kyle Beckerman said Cassar has been learning "on the go" his first two years as head coach, a lot like Kreis did in his early years at RSL.
"I'm sure he learned a ton and I know he's ready to get to work as well and get back into competing for things," Beckerman said.
If Cassar is on the hot seat, he vows there will be no balancing act between worrying about the upcoming season and his own job security.
"To be honest with you, I don't have backup plans like that," he said. "I think people that have backup plans like that aren't focused. I'm focused on being successful. I'm focused on this team winning the MLS Cup, not just surviving. That's how it is. I will never be worried about something else. That's not how I was brought up, that's not how I do it."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Jeff Cassar at a glance
Cassar's head coaching record entering his third season with RSL
MLS • 26-23-19
U.S. Open Cup • 3-2-0
CONCACAF Champions League • 3-0-1, qualified as third seed after winning Group G
2015 • 11-15-8, 41 points, 38 goals scored, 48 conceded
2014 • 15-8-11, 56 points, 54 goals scored, 39 conceded
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RSL key dates
CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal Leg 1 • RSL at UANL Tigres, Feb. 24, 6 p.m.
CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal Leg 2 • RSL vs. UANL Tigres, March 2, 8 p.m.
MLS season opener • RSL at Orlando, March 6, noon —
RSL key dates
CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal Leg 1 » RSL at UANL Tigres, Feb. 24, 6 p.m.
CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal Leg 2 » RSL vs. UANL Tigres, March 2, 8 p.m.
MLS season opener • RSL at Orlando, March 6, Noon