At first glance, the mutual departures as Head Coach of Alen Marcina from San Antonio FC and Mark Briggs from Sacramento Republic FC – each of which came in the past seven days – would likely come as surprise to most observers.

In both cases, they had brought remarkable success to their respective clubs. Marcina’s 2022 SAFC squad became only the fourth team to win both the Players’ Shield and USL Championship Final in the same season, while Briggs became the winningest coach in Republic FC history and led the club to a U.S. Open Cup Final in 2022 and Western Conference Final last year.

But there might also be a logic in both moves that will put each party – both club and coach – in a position to succeed in the future.

• STYLISTIC CLASH: If we’re honest, Marcina’s San Antonio reached its peak as a hyper-aggressive pressing machine that wasn’t really programmed for a possession-based style. When SAFC appointed Marco Ferruzzi as Sporting Director after hiring him away from FC Dallas prior to last season, the side tried to move toward that idea of possession and game control, but it couldn’t find consistency between the new way forward and the approach that brought it past success and missed the playoffs.

• TIME WEARS ON: Briggs and Republic FC, meanwhile, made a fine start to the campaign but as the season progressed things began to not look as rosy. There were certainly high points – the club’s 4-0 victory at home to New Mexico United at the end of September was a reminder of how good Sacramento could be at its peak. It also served as the club’s last win in Briggs’ tenure after Republic FC’s elimination in a penalty shootout by Las Vegas Lights FC last Friday night.

• HE SAID IT: “I’m not sure what to say right now. There's been too many of those performances, too many of those performances on the road.” – Briggs after a 2-1 loss to El Paso Locomotive FC on October 19 that proved a crucial blow in the club’s chances at a top-two finish.

It could be telling that both Marcina and Briggs were coming to the end of their fifth seasons at their respective clubs. Appointed seven days apart in December, 2019, they were the third- and fourth-longest tenured Head Coaches in the league at the end of the regular season.

But this is why head coaching is hard, and change almost always comes, even when the change occurs to a coach that would on the face of it have built enough currency to come through a down spell.

Both Briggs and Marcina will get another chance to coach in the USL Championship should they choose. You’d be a fool to say they wouldn’t succeed again, given their track records. You’d expect there will be clubs lining up to gauge their interest in coming aboard soon.

Whoever replaces them at Republic FC and SAFC will also have a great opportunity ahead of them, one that could bring both clubs back to the top of the Western Conference in short order.

As such, it could be exactly the breath of fresh air and ideas that both organizations seemed in need of as their seasons ended.