CHARLESTON, S.C. – It’s been 15 years since Conor Casey first arrived in Charleston as a Toronto FC player for the 2007 edition of the Carolina Challenge Cup, the traditional preseason event hosted by the Charleston Battery.

“I remember it was a really cool experience,” Casey said this week. “Mostly, I remember the city and the food from the trip, and I also remember the old clubhouse they had there, a really cool, historic feel to it.”

The Three Lions Pub that was part of the Battery’s former home at Blackbaud Stadium is no more, but the tradition of the Challenge Cup – now sponsored by Breeze Airways – is set to return with Casey now at the helm of the Battery. Appointed as the club’s new Head Coach this offseason, the former United States international is looking forward to welcoming Major League Soccer clubs Columbus Crew SC, Inter Miami CF and Charlotte FC to Patriots Point for the event which kicks off this weekend.

Casey’s appointment after the departure of longtime Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser was one of the more eye-catching moves of the offseason in the USL Championship. That was in part due to previous comments made midway through his career about a lack of interest at that time in moving into coaching, when his interests extended well beyond the playing field while helping the Colorado Rapids claim MLS Cup at the height of his career.

So, what changed?

“I think I had some influences later on in my career that opened my eyes to maybe my skillset,” said Casey. “As a player, I always had a lot of different interests that weren’t necessarily soccer-related, but I think with that I was able to learn a lot from different areas of life. When I then came across guys like [Philadelphia Union Head Coach] Jim Curtin late in my career, [U.S. Men’s National Team Coach] Gregg Berhalter late in my career, I kind of changed my tune a little bit in terms of how I maybe viewed the coaching role.

“One of my biggest mentors I had in my life was Clive Charles, who was the coach at [the University of Portland], and I think I realized that I had a skillset that could help players, and I wanted to stay in the game.”

Casey took his first coaching badges during his final season as a player under Berhalter at the Crew in 2016, and then joined Pablo Mastroeni’s staff as he returned to the Rapids for the start of his coaching career the following year. After a brief stint as interim Head Coach for the club at the end of the 2019 season, Casey stepped away from the sidelines to spend time with his family in 2020 as Robin Fraser was appointed as Colorado’s new head coach.

When the Battery came calling asking if he might be interested in their head coaching position, the timing and the opportunity lined up almost perfectly.

“That time [away] ended up being a little bit longer because of COVID, and I got into a point where I knew I was ready to get back into it and look for an opportunity where I could make, I don’t want to say my mark, but effect things in a positive way,” said Casey. “After meeting with [Battery] owner Rob Salvatore, he just so impressed me. I think I came in with an open mind about the situation, I think in some ways I was trying to figure out if I wanted to get back into MLS in some capacity, how difficult it would be to get a head coaching job there, or an assistant coaching job, but when I met with Rob, I just knew it was the right place to be, the right club, the right owner, the right city, and I was right.”

The influence of Curtin – now one of the longest-tenured and well-admired coaches in Major League Soccer – was also important in how it helped Casey view his potential role as a Head Coach. After the experience of competing for current Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp at Mainz 05 during his time in Germany, and others who were more old-school in their methods, Curtin’s style brought home for Casey the way coaching has changed since the start of his career.

“Jurgen KIopp was so full of life and full of energy, other German coaches that were much more strict and stern, maybe I didn’t quite vibe with as well,” said Casey. “I think having someone like Jim Curtin as my coach late in my career, I saw a different way of doing things that I had seen previously under Klopp and that I felt I could emulate in some ways.

“You know, it’s a new generation of players and people and they are very aware, there is huge access to their thoughts to be broadcast over social media and they have access to all this information. I’m certainly an intense coach at times, but that’s much more to do with trying to get the tactical part right and the energy part right. I also see myself as someone who’s trying to build a great culture and I care about the people. I want them to be happy on the field, and almost more importantly off the field when they go home.”

On the field, Casey is aiming for his team to be aggressive, using a vertical attacking game that can bring the attacking prowess of players such as new arrivals Augustine Williams, EJ Johnson and Shak Adams and notable returnee Nicque Daley to the fore. That plan will get its first test on Saturday night against Charlotte FC (8 p.m. ET), with Casey having been pleased with the way his side has taken on the new approaches and ways of working he and his staff have looked to implement over the first two weeks of training camp.

As he takes full charge as head coach for the first time, however, the main goal Casey is aiming for over the coming year is to set a culture that will carry the Battery back toward the top of the Championship. With the club’s backing, he certainly feels in position to make the impact he’s aiming for.  

“It's extremely exciting,” said Casey. “I think one of the biggest reasons I took the job was to be able to be empowered to have an impact. After talking with Rob, I knew that was going to be the case, that I was going to be able to effect change in a quick way, and sometimes you don’t quite get that chance at the MLS level. There’s a bigger club, there are more people involved in the decision-making process, and it’s certainly been a collective process for us here but I’m just very excited for the soccer part, but also to sculpt the culture here in a way that will be long-lasting.”