Coming off a season in which he’d recorded 11 goals and five assists across the USL Championship’s regular season and playoffs, helping Louisville City FC to its first league title, Luke Spencer had big aspirations for the 2018 season.

“I wanted to score more goals and lead the team in scoring and move on to maybe Major League Soccer or maybe Europe,” he said recently. “That was in my mind heading into that season.”

It was set to be a pivotal year for the former Xavier University standout.

But as it turned out, the pivot took him in a new direction, setting Spencer on a path that this year sees him start his first season as Head Coach at FC Tulsa.

While teammate Cam Lancaster set about rewriting the USL Championship Record Book early in the season, Spencer’s opportunities for minutes proved more limited. Then, at the end of May, an injury sidelined him until early August.

Between those appearances, a new path appeared. When then-LouCity Head Coach James O’Connor was appointed to the same position at Orlando City SC at the end of June – and took assistant coaches Daniel Byrd and Thabane Sutu with him to Florida – it fell to the trio of Spencer, Paolo DelPiccolo and George Davis IV to lead the team in the interim.

Due to his injury, Spencer became the de facto head of what became known as The Triumvirate, stalking the technical area during games with DelPiccolo and Davis in action on the field. When the side headed to face rival the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium for the first game under the trio’s leadership, there was a mix of emotions as the side went through its pregame routine.

“Certainly, there were some nerves there, but [I was] still pretty confident in the group that we had,” said Spencer. “I remember my mindset was more so to just enjoy the experience, feeling confident in the fact that the group that we had, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed with the effort or the commitment. Those things I knew we would have, but the result was up in the air, as it can be in this game.”

A second-half goal by Lancaster gave Louisville a 2-1 victory, providing an air of confidence the interim solution Spencer, DelPiccolo and Davis offered could be successful. Over the six games the trio oversaw in league play, the side took four wins and lost only once, bridging the gap between O’Connor’s time at the helm and the arrival of John Hackworth as the new Head Coach in early August.

Louisville went on to finish second in the Eastern Conference during the regular season before becoming the first team to win consecutive USL Championship titles in the postseason. After being sidelined during the regular season, Spencer capped his year by returning to the lineup in the Championship Final after Lancaster was forced out by injury and scoring the game-winner against Phoenix Rising FC in a memorable 1-0 victory at Lynn Family Stadium.

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In one way, Spencer’s path is one that’s become familiar.

As he takes the helm in Tulsa this season, Spencer is among six current Head Coaches in the USL Championship who previously played in the league.

With 115 appearances across the league’s regular season and playoffs between his time at FC Cincinnati and Louisville City, he ranks second in that cohort in Championship appearances. Only Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s James Chambers sits ahead of him, and then by only one game.

In the Championship’s history, four former players have led teams to league titles as coaches, with O’Connor’s title in 2017 being followed by Richard Chaplow (Orange County SC, 2021), Juan Guerra (Phoenix Rising FC, 2023) and Chambers, who won the title this past season with the Switchbacks.

The pathway that’s been established is a positive for Spencer, who shifted to Louisville City’s Academy after his playing career concluded. Since then, he served as Director of LouCity’s Boys Academy and as an assistant coach at FC Tulsa last season before his promotion this offseason.

“It’s positive because there’s promotion from within, and players want to remain a part of this league as it grows,” said Spencer. “As players are developing in the coaching ranks, the league is developing as well with new initiatives, so we’re all growing together. The league is providing more opportunities, and players are taking advantage of that, coaches are taking advantage of that, which is how it should work. The league and players and coaches and front offices can all move in the same direction and build on what they’re trying to achieve.”

In another way, Spencer’s path is part of a broader positive trend within the USL ecosystem.

Spencer is now one of eight black Head Coaches in the USL’s professional ranks entering 2025 across the Championship, League One and Super League. It’s a significant rise from previous seasons, and a sign of the changes in mindset that are emerging around the league and its clubs.

A result of those efforts is now reflected in the hires being made by Championship, League One and Super League clubs. In the Championship and League One, it’s also maintained the position the two leagues have established as a first step into the professional head coaching ranks for young coaches. Four of the five current Black Head Coaches in the Championship are in the role for the first time.

“It's about opening up the talent sources,” said Busey, who in January was honored with the Hercules Award for Advancing Diversity in Soccer at the United Soccer Coaches convention. “More than anything, we’re committed to bringing in new ideas, and it demonstrates the commitment from both the league as well as clubs. What we’re finding out is that when we keep our standards high, while also broadening the pool of candidates that we may have typically recruited from, we get a different slate of candidates. Consequently, we’re able to provide new perspectives to the league and to the game.”

The pathways those opportunities can lead to are now being reflected in other areas of American soccer. Since serving as Head Coach at FC Tulsa, Michael Nsien went on to work for the U.S. Soccer Federation as Head Coach of the U.S. U-19 Men’s National Team and as an assistant coach for the Men’s National Team before taking on his current role as an assistant coach at Nashville SC in Major League Soccer.

Former Austin Bold FC Head Coach Ryan Thompson, meanwhile, has worked as a goalkeeper coach with the United States Men’s National Team in addition to his work at Houston Dynamo FC.

“When you look at the amount of coaches who are matriculating through USL platforms –  through League One as well as Championship – and advancing in their careers across multiple sporting platforms, be it the national team as was the case with Michael Nsien, or other professional leagues, it demonstrates that USL is a proven talent destination for coaches who are either up-and-coming or coaches who are just looking for that shot, that chance to really show what they can do,” said Busey.

Creating those connections and opportunities has become a key part of Busey’s role. Soon after Spencer’s promotion, he reached out to offer congratulations and whatever support he could offer as Spencer progressed through his first year at the helm.

“When you look at Luke and his resume, he is a coach who is willing to learn. I think that’s important to emphasize first,” said Busey. “I think Luke is an exemplar in this way, going through the academy system, learning the ins and outs of coaching, how to develop and integrate those promising academy into a First Team environment.

“When you look at what Luke has done in gaining those experiences, I think that will prepare him well for this role. … He’s an example of what USL could and should be.”

For Spencer, connecting with Busey was not only welcome on a personal level, but illustrated the seriousness with which the league is approaching the bigger picture of creating a level playing field for coaches and front office staff.

“Dr. Busey reached out to me as a form of support, and I thought, ‘you know, what a unique role, what an important role,’” said Spencer. “How I felt being on the end of that call was that the league is looking after its coaches. The league is looking after positive change, and that’s all important. I was proud to be part of the league in terms of the care that they're taking, the steps they’re taking to improve it.”

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When Spencer served as part of The Triumvirate at Louisville City, the culture at the club had already been well established. That LouCity has now recorded the most regular season wins in the Championship’s history as it enters its 11th campaign isn’t a surprise, but a result of the standard that’s endured over the years.

It’s the sort of culture Spencer wants to cultivate at FC Tulsa.

“The culture of Louisville City, it wasn't for everybody,” said Spencer. “You know you have to have that humility to put your ego aside and commit to what the team is trying to achieve, and at times that means that you’re not playing, but you have to give it your all regardless of whether or not you’re playing, you have to support your teammate whether or not you’re playing, and you have to show up every day.”

“Those things are difficult to do at times. For me, the experience at Louisville City was solidified because of the results, right? You have championships and just a lot of winning, and so then I think it snowballs, and it compounds, and it reinforces the culture, and it gets stronger as you go on. To be there for the foundation years with a really strong group is what I want to create here.”

“That’s been a really positive addition to our club,” said Spencer. “Caleb has come in with a proven track record of success. You look at the rosters that he’s been able to assemble in his years at Memphis, they’re impressive rosters and a lot of good players.

“I think it’s something Tulsa looked at and said, ‘hey, he can definitely add value to what we’re doing,’ and in a short amount of time, we’ve seen that. No question, he’s raised some standards here. He set clear expectations, and he's somebody that's going to have a really positive impact overall, not just on player selections and being able to put a roster together, but how we operate day-to-day as well.”

For a club that last reached the USL Championship Playoffs in 2021, has only advanced to the postseason three times overall, and is yet to win a playoff game in its 10-season history, Spencer, Sewell and Sanchez have only one place to go from here.

With that in mind, simply getting to the playoffs might be the starting point for the club’s new leaders.

Spencer, though, wants to bring a different mindset to the 2025 campaign.

“What I want to be cautious of is putting any self-limiting proposals out there,” he said. “By saying, ‘we want to qualify for the playoffs,’ well, then automatically everybody thinks, ‘OK, we’re only as good as eighth place.’

“I think it’s important – and it may sound cliché – but we want to maximize the potential of the group. With this change, with bringing in some new players, there’s going to be an evaluation period of, ‘OK, how are the players jelling? Where are we at from a training standpoint? Where are we at in implementing our culture?’ before we can give some indications on, ‘this is where I think we’re headed, this is what I think we can achieve,’ and go on from there.”

Having reached the peak of USL Championship success as a player, Spencer is ready to start the same climb on the sidelines.

“Changing habits, changing expectations, changing roles, I think that can be very difficult,” said Spencer. “When we look at Tulsa overall, year after year, we have to change the expectation of where we're finishing, and the expectation heading into a game that we’re expecting to win. Those expectations are followed by very high standards that are lived out daily.

“I think once we change our overall habits, or what we’re doing, our behaviors, then naturally, the expectations will change, right? And then we go back to that snowball effect that I talked about at Louisville City, we’ll start to gain some momentum in that regard to where then, it’s normalized.”