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Memphis’ Ben Pirmann Voted USL Championship Coach of the Month

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 06/08/22, 1:30PM EDT

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901 FC won four games out of four in May with entertaining, attacking soccer bolstered by club’s camaraderie

In his first full season at the helm of Memphis 901 FC last year, Head Coach Ben Pirmann delivered the best campaign in the club’s short history, earning a first postseason berth and developing a competitive squad that featured two first-time All-USL Championship selections.

Then, as can be the case in lower division soccer in America, he and the club’s staff had to build a largely new squad that could try to continue the club’s upward ascent.

After four wins in four outings in the past month, Pirmann was announced on Wednesday as the Championship’s Coach of the Month for May, with the retooled roster so far having led 901 FC to the top of the Eastern Conference standings ahead of a major rivalry clash against Birmingham Legion FC on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET | ESPN+).

For Pirmann, who joined 901 FC as an assistant coach at the club’s inception before taking the reins first as interim Head Coach late in the 2020 season before his permanent appointment, the spirit the club has been able to produce in the locker room has been a key ingredient to the continued success Memphis has produced on the field.

“I think the camaraderie and the team spirit is something that’s really important,” said Pirmann this week. “[901 FC Sporting Director] Tim Howard, when he was at Everton, they talk about the family and the family room instead of a locker room. You know, those are things that we really want to encourage. We talked about having a positive attitude, high-end work ethic, we want to make sure that we’re always focused on things that we can improve. And I think when everybody’s bought in for that, the camaraderie and the synergy and the chemistry is a little bit easier to link together.”


Voted the USL Championship Coach of the Month for May, Ben Pirmann has guided Memphis 901 FC to nine wins in its first 12 games of the 2022 campaign overall. | Photo courtesy Eric Glemser / Memphis 901 FC

With only seven players back from the 2021 squad, including a pair of USL Academy signings, 901 FC has seen old and new faces come to the fore this season. Attacking midfielder Laurent Kissiedou – one of the key holdovers from a season ago – has recorded five goals and four assists so far this campaign, while newcomers like Phillip Goodrum, who leads the team with seven goals, and Jeremy Kelly, who leads the Championship with six assists, have put Memphis tied for second in the league with 27 goals through 12 contests.

Memphis has also been solid defensively, with returning center backs Niall Logue – now signed to a permanent deal after a season on loan from El Paso Locomotive FC last year – and Zach Carroll both playing a role alongside newcomers Rece Buckmaster, Patrick Seagrist and Graham Smith in the back line.

The diversity Memphis has seen in its attack has become its hallmark this season, though. Currently, eight different players in 901 FC’s roster have recorded at least two assists, while four players – Goodrum, Kelly, Kissiedou and 2021 USL League One MVP finalist Aaron Molloy – have all scored at least four times.

“We want to be selfless in the attack,” said Pirmann. “It doesn't matter for me who scores the goals or gets the assists. … We talk about it all the time. Within individual meetings, our holding midfielders and center backs, they need to get a goal early on in the year. Patrick Seagrist doing it from left back. It’s how we approach things as a club. We want to be selfless. We want to work for each other. And I think when you put others first, it doesn't really matter who’s scoring and who’s assisting or who's getting the stats.”

As 901 FC aims for further success this campaign, the ethos Pirmann and his squad bring to the field is paying off handsomely.

“I think the winning helps make it go quicker,” said Pirmann. “The synergy helps winning, so it goes hand in hand. But those are big things for us as a club both on and off the field that we want to keep pushing on.”

Pirmann received 94 percent of the vote to take the third monthly award of the season. New Mexico United’s Zach Prince and the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Neill Collins earned three percent apiece, with Prince leading United to an undefeated 3-0-2 month to push the side up the Western Conference standings, and Collins’ Rowdies taking victories in both of its outings over the month against Phoenix Rising FC and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.

The USL Championship’s Coach of the Month award is voted upon by the USL Championship National Media Panel and the USL Championship Technical Committee, with each group responsible for 50 percent of the overall vote.

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