Last December, Pa-Modou Kah became the seventh full-time head coaching appointment in Phoenix Rising FC’s history. The former Norwegian international brought with him a sterling resume in the coaching ranks, highlighted by winning the Canadian Premier League with Pacific FC in 2021 while more recently serving as Head Coach at North Texas SC in MLS NEXT Pro and as an assistant at Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer.

Ahead of Rising’s meeting with San Antonio FC on Sunday afternoon in the season premiere of the USL on CBS at 4 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network, we spoke with the 44-year-old about being a mentor to Alphonso Davies at the start of the Canadian superstar’s career, growing up in Norway and representing his adopted homeland, and the key to successfully developing young players, of which Rising currently has plenty in its squad.

Editor’s Note: The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Q: How long after he joined Whitecaps First Team training sessions did people realize what Alphonso Davies had the potential to become?

Pa-Modou Kah: Well, I mean, from the very first training session. Carl Robinson, our Head Coach back then, when he brought players, he would set them up against me and Kendall Waston, who was a defender at the time. It was for us to test them, because we were the two biggest guys, and we would be hard just to see how their mentality is and how they go about things. I remember I gave Alphonso one slap, and he didn’t say much. Kendall gave him another one, and he just kept going. But the third time, the way he got out of the situation and dribbled, we just looked at each other, we say, “yeah, there’s a player in there.”

The biggest thing Phonzie had was his mentality. He was mature beyond his age at the time, he knew what he truly wanted, and Robbo felt that he needed guidance, so he was learning and allowed me to mentor him. Alphonso was very open to ask questions, and you know, it’s a joy to be around.

Q: There was genuine excitement around the Whitecaps’ organization when Davies signed for WFC2 and then started playing in the USL Championship. What does it mean to see how far he's gone since then?

PMK: He’s reached the top. To win the Champions League in your second season as a professional in Europe, but as well, for me, the biggest thing is he's always stayed humble, close to his people, which is very important and that stability is very important. And he has people he can turn to for guidance. He can call me, we talk – we talk often – and that’s very important, but I can say he’s a mature man beyond his age, and he understand the pitfalls of being a professional. So, I’m very happy to see how his growth and developments have taken him. It’s no surprise. It's unfortunate now that he’s out with an injury, but this will only make him come back better and stronger.

Q: Your family emigrated from the Gambia to Norway when you were still young. What was it like getting used to life in Scandinavia as a kid?

PMK: I’ve never seen snow my whole life, so I didn't know what snow was until I saw snow for the very first time. It landed on my hand, and it turned to water, and I’m like, “Wow, this thing is magical.” So, now you can imagine what it was. When you’re used to seeing the sun run around all day long, after school you’re out playing ‘til sunset, and you come to Norway and there’s 24/7 darkness during wintertime, it was an adjustment period. But I’m very happy that I was able to have those [experiences] because that helped me later on. When I see players moving from a country to another country, how they have to adapt. So, for me, it’s been wonderful.

Q: What was it like coming through the youth soccer ranks there and eventually turning pro with Vålerenga?

PMK: Obviously different. You know, you are one of few, one of few minorities, because it was not like Norway had a bunch of minority groups running everywhere. But it was something special, something that I'm very proud of. Because especially in Vålerenga, in Norway, it was few and far between with the young players and making their debut, so to be able to go through the academy and make it to the First Team is something special, which opened a lot of doors for the players that came along.

Q: What did it mean for you to represent Norway as your adopted homeland at the international level?

PMK: It means a lot. Obviously, I’m a Gambian-Norwegian. I would have loved to represent my country, Gambia, but at the time I had to make a football decision which was based upon which country will offer me the most to be seen at the time. At that time, I would have been foolish to choose Gambia, because we were not well known. We are obviously now, 25-odd years later is always totally different, but I’m very proud to be the first fully black man to represent Norway. Seeing what has come after me is something to be very proud of.

Q: How much do you think that upbringing through the Vålerenga Academy and into the First Team influenced the way you think about the game now, and your approach to nurturing young players as a coach?

PMK: Well, obviously, you take those lessons, because knowing that you are very young when you sign your first contract and be able to make your debut at a very young, early age, and going through a football career, I learned a lot in Vålerenga, but the place I learned the most was Holland, in terms of how to nurture young players, in terms of how to think football, in terms of how to play football.

Spending seven years [at Roda JC], which during that time honestly I learned very, very much about the game and seeing how they also develop young players and nurture young players. For me, that was something that I took notice of and that I try to implement right now.

Q: You've been in North America for more than a decade now. What's it been like to see the way the landscape has changed since you arrived in Portland in 2013?

PMK: It’s been great. If I look back in Portland, there were maybe three or four, soccer-specific, football stadiums. Now almost every team has their own stadium, their own facility. Obviously [things] have changed. Before it used to be for MLS where it was millionaires’ league, but now it’s a billionaires’ league. So, you have people with more money pouring into the infrastructure, which is fantastic.

The development of MLS has grown from where it was in 2013 to now, and you have one of the greatest footballers to ever grace the pitch coming and playing here. So, I think it's grown, and it’s continued to grow, not only MLS, but soccer in North America. And given that the World Cup is coming next year, I think it’s another growth that will benefit this great country in terms of soccer, and hopefully it will drive a passion, and we will see more and more young players wanting to play in this game of football. Hopefully all levels of the U.S. Soccer could benefit from it.

Q: You became a Head Coach for the first time at Pacific FC, right before the pandemic struck. How big a challenge was that for you as someone getting to implement his own ideas for the first time?

PMK: It was great. It was not great to have the COVID pandemic and everything, but sometimes you have six weeks [in preseason]. Now I had a full year to implement everything that I wanted with the players, and the players bought in, because sometimes you don’t realize what you miss until it’s taken away from you. And I think in 2020 a lot of players understood what football meant to them, because it was taken away and [you didn’t get] to do what you loved the most.

So, for me, it was hammering the buy-in, hammering the gratitude of life, because we are able to do what we do, but as well as them understanding what we want to implement and the style of football that we wanted to play.

Q: 2021 obviously was a magical year for you and Pacific. You not only won the league title, but you produced the memorable upset of the Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship. What do you remember most about that season?

PMK: I mean, obviously, winning, it’s always going to be there, it’s a legacy that you leave. But again, just to go back to how the players bought in, the belief the players had, the squad that we had, where they could rectify themselves, you know? It was a team that understood their quality and knew what they were, what their capabilities were.

And for me as a Head Coach, it was a dream to work with these players, because later on, we were able to transfer players into MLS, which, that’s something that you don’t do. But again, the group itself, it was a group that understood what their capabilities were, and believed that they could be winners. And obviously we did it. So, for me, with the group we assembled, it’s a group to be proud of, because I had the pleasure of playing with some of them and also having the opportunity to coach them. That was something different.

Q: You’ve been part of two MLS organizations since then, leading North Texas SC as part of FC Dallas in MLS NEXT Pro and then at Charlotte FC as an assistant. What did you learn from those experiences?

PMK: I learned a lot in Dallas working with youth again and in development, which is a very great passion of mine, and I learned a lot in Charlotte, because we faced adversity with the loss of Anton Walkes. You know, going through the emotions of that, going through the emotions of the season, when we, I think, one game or the last game to go, we made it into the playoffs.

Then you get to work with Dean Smith, an experienced Premier League coach, and you see the difference that he brought. So, for me, it’s been great learning lessons along the way, which definitely helped me, shaped me into the coach that I am and will continue to be in the future.

Q: Phoenix Rising has been one of the biggest clubs in the USL Championship over the past eight years. Was that part of the appeal in becoming the club's new head coach this off season?

PMK: Absolutely. You always want to test yourself. And again, Phoenix is an ambitious club that is always looking to win trophies and develop young players and, you know, become a club to be reckoned with in USL. For me, that was a great appeal, and that’s the reason why I’m here.

But also, having the possibility to work with [President] Bobby Dulle and [Sporting Director] Brandon McCarthy, two great people that, we saw eye-to-eye, and we understood the alignment that we wanted to bring to this club and drive this club forward.

Q: More clubs nowadays in the Championship – and I think you guys are included in this – seem to have the aim of being both successful on the field but also being a place players can use as a launching pad for their careers. Do you think that's an accurate assessment of where the club is at this point?

PMK: Absolutely. I think it’s always been. If you’ve seen the players and staff that have come here and moved on to bigger and better things, that’s just a great testament to what the club has been doing, and great testament to Bobby Dulle in the way that he has run the organization. I’m very proud to be part of Phoenix Rising and hopefully will be part of more successes, not only on the field, but off the field as well regarding players and staff.

PMK: Unbelievable feeling out there for me. The camaraderie that they show towards each other, the trust they have for one another, as well as the trust they have for us as coaching staff to continue to guide them and lead them to be the best version of themselves. We have an incredible group that, they’re doing everything we’re asking them to do. They continue to be brave, to continue to be courageous, the result may not go the way that we want it, but one thing that they have is that is the desire, determination and the faith in what we can achieve.

Q: What's the underlying philosophy as to, if we look at a team, we can say “that’s a Pa-Modou Kah team”?

PMK: I think it shows a team that is brave, a team that is courageous, a team that wants to play front-foot football and dominant football.

Q: What do you hope the future looks like for you and for Rising?

PMK: That is a tough question, but when we speak about the present – which is where I live in – the future, it’s not set for nobody. At the present, I see a tremendous working partnership where we are aligned in how we want to continue to build this club into one of the best clubs in North America.