Last year, Rhode Island FC Head Coach and General Manager Khano Smith presided over one of the most successful inaugural seasons in the USL Championship’s history. The side won the Eastern Conference title by claiming three consecutive wins on the road against Indy Eleven, Louisville City FC and then-title holder the Charleston Battery. In turn, it became only the third team to reach the Championship Final in its inaugural season before falling to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.

This weekend, RIFC takes the next step forward, with the club set to welcome a sellout crowd to its new 10,500-seat venue Centreville Bank Stadium as it hosts San Antonio FC before a national audience on TUDN at 4 p.m. ET.

The following Wednesday night, RIFC will also host the New England Revolution in the Round of 32 of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, marking the first official meeting between the two clubs as Smith squares off with the organization at which he won three Eastern Conference titles in Major League Soccer during his playing career.

We spoke to the former Bermuda international about how Rhode Island achieved success a season ago, what it meant to be part of the Revolution at one of the high points of the club’s history, and what the new venue will mean for Rhode Island and its fans in the years to come.

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

Q: When you reflect on Rhode Island FC’s inaugural season, what's the first thing you think of?

Khano Smith: The journey and enjoying the moment. You know, there were a lot of ups and downs, but yeah, I think I was in an incredibly, incredibly privileged position, I still am, there’s a lot of exciting stuff going around the club this week, so I’m just trying to take it all in. I think at some point in my life, and I look back on this moment, I’ll probably realize how fortunate I was. I’m just trying to stay thinking about that, honestly,

Q: Since the championship expanded to a 32-game season in 2017, Rhode Island was only the seventh team to reach the playoffs having logged less than 20 points in the first half of the year. What do you think it was that carried the team over the second half and into the playoffs?

KS: People, our team spirit. I think we have a good locker room and ultimately when things don't go well, if you don’t have people around, it could spiral out of control. But we have good characters. We have good people. We try to treat our players right and give them everything they need to prepare the best way they can, within reason, within our resources.

So, I think we have good people. We try to do a good job of trying to support them in being successful, [and] it's down to the characters of the players and who they are as people. They don’t give up. I think if you don’t have good characters, our season could have went downhill fast, but I think it just took us time to jell.

You know, people in sports now really don't have patience. But I don’t know what else you would expect, really, when you throw 20 new people into a room together and expect immediate results. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that. I wish it did, but it doesn’t.

Q: We’ve talked before about the turning point last year where, which you thought happened after the game in Memphis, where you guys had the lead, it got away late, you drew but it felt like a loss. Got a few days off after that, and then you came out and you went out and beat Louisville for the first time at Lynn Family Stadium, the only team to do that last year. What was it like after that? Because it seemed that from there, the momentum just kept building and building and building and the team never seemed to slow down from that point on?

KS: Yeah. I mean, I think it was just they learned how to win together. Like, you get a new group of people together, they need to know how to do things and winning is the most difficult thing in sports, so you need to learn how to do it. They learned how to do it together. They believe how to do it together, and it just took time. And you have to go through pain and losses and draws that should have been wins and stick to who you are, stick to your values and stick to who you are as a team and as people.

Q: There was such a wave of momentum behind the team going into Colorado Springs last November. In retrospect, what do you think went wrong in the Final?

KS: Conceded two goals early. That third goal, that corner play, we’ve done multiple times [during the season] and we get a chance out of it, and that was the only time all year that it led to a chance for the opposition. But they were the better team on the day. Luck just ran out. Everything went right for them. Nothing went right for us. That’s sports. They were better. They pressed us. We didn’t have any time with the ball, no time and no space. We didn’t create many opportunities.

So, they were the better team on the day in all facets of the game, but playing the game on the road, like, they’re favorites, and ultimately, our luck just ran out. We went to three difficult places before that and won, and to expect to go to a fourth and do it, it’s a monumental effort. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have it on the day.

KS: Being in the present. You try to be in the present. What happened before has no real bearing on what happens in the future. So, yeah, just try and deal with it in the moment and be present.

Q: What were your favorite memories of playing for the Revolution?

KS: The experiences that I have with my teammates, making it to finals, winning finals, the relationships and bonds that you built with staff and players, and the friendships that you built over the time. I mean, people that I played with back then are still my lifelong friends. Ultimately, it’s the brotherhood. So that’s the message I try to get to the players; you may be sitting next to guys that could be your lifelong friends. So just be good teammates and be there for each other.

Q: It seemed like a pretty special group at the time in terms of that level of camaraderie and having two people at the top of that in Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner, who were so well regarded, and I think are still so well liked by all of the players that played for them.

KS: I mean, ultimately, what they did is create an environment that was fun and was also serious. But again, I feel like they had good characters in the locker room, and the locker room at least itself, in any good locker room the players drive the standards and the values in the group, the behaviors of what’s acceptable, what’s not acceptable. For me, every good team has that. I think the coaches and the management certainly have a responsibility to set the standards, but to be good, the players need to carry it on.

Q: When you saw the draw for the U.S. Open Cup that brought the Revs to face you at the new stadium in Pawtucket, what was your initial reaction?

KS: I’m excited. I think it’s the best [draw] for us. You couldn't really hope for a better way for us to open up the stadium. Obviously, having the seven games on the road was difficult, obviously wish we could have had home games sooner. But, once we’re in this situation, to have three home games in a week is probably best-case scenario if you were to draw it up, to the best team for us to play in the Open Cup.

Obviously, it’s the closest professional team to us. Successful organization, been around for a while, so I think you can see a really, really good atmosphere with our fans and some of theirs coming down.

Everything’s not going to go right. Like, we’re not going to be up by three goals in the first half in every one of those games like we were this weekend. You're going to have to deal with difficult moments. Real teams and real competitors and real serious athletes deal with adversity and setbacks and continue to push on. We’re going to have to be ready to deal with setbacks and suffer in the game to have so much quality in that team. We’re going to have to be prepared to suffer, get a little bit of luck, and hopefully things can go our way.

Q: You’ve seen Centerville Bank Stadium built from almost the ground up, having made the site visits along the way. What’s it now like to see it completed and ready to welcome the team for the first time?

KS: It's really nice. You know, now we have a home. Haven’t really had a home since we’ve been a team, and to finally have a place that we can go every single day, that is amazing. It’s no longer a construction site, it’s a stadium, so it’s finally ours. We’re incredibly privileged to go there and work there every single day and try and try and provide ourselves and the fans with the best experience possible.

Q: The support you got last year at Beirne Stadium, and very visibly on the road throughout the year, including the postseason, even [this past weekend] in Westchester was remarkable. What do you hope fans enjoy most about this new permanent home?

KS: I know from a front office and a business perspective, they’ve tried to provide fans with a real fan experience. Ultimately, we’re in the entertainment industry, right? So that’s what the stadium is here for, to entertain people with a fun good experience. Get good food, good drinks, we’re trying to provide people with an entertaining experience. All of that stuff within the stadium is part of that, but obviously we need to do our job on the field, provide people with an experience.

Would I love to be able to sit there and say to people that we’re going to guarantee wins every week and win every game, and they’re going to be easy? That’s not possible. But I think what I can stick my neck out and say is hopefully the games will be entertaining. All the games at Beirne Stadium last year were entertaining, the team showed good spirit. They never gave up until the end, even though there were a couple that we lost at home. Ultimately, we just need to make it into a place the opposition doesn't like to come.

Q: You’ve seen the impact that stadiums like Weidner Field have had for Colorado Springs or Lynn Family Stadium has had for Louisville. What does it mean to have a stadium that is going to be comparable to those and have the potential impact for the club that you guys are going to be able to then live up to on the field?

KS: From a business perspective, it obviously gives a good foundation to be able to grow as a business, and obviously that is very important, that we have a good, healthy business. So, the stadium does that. Obviously, it’s more than that. Just for the Rhode Island community, it’s a multipurpose venue to provide people with fun experiences in concerts, having the rugby championship in there lined up already and so many other things coming down the pipeline. They’re selling a world-class entertainment venue.

As far as soccer, for opponents that come there again, you look at these places, it’s a major advantage. All these teams that have soccer specific venues, they’re really difficult places to go and play because the fans are invested, the players are invested. They're really difficult places to go. That's the experience we need our opponents to feel when they come here.

Q: It’s also the sort of venue that could translate to a place in the planned USL Division One league a few years down the line. What would it mean to lead Rhode Island FC into top-flight competition at some point in the future?

KS: That's three years from now, I really don’t even know how to answer that question. When those plans are a little bit more concrete and taking off, I think so many things need to happen for that to happen, but obviously it would be an incredible experience, if and when it happens. But for me, I’m not really thinking that far ahead, I’m literally thinking about three games that we have next week.

Q: The first of those, as you mentioned, against San Antonio is a really big game, also going to be on national television. What does it mean to have that spotlight put on a club like Rhode Island on TUDN this Saturday?

KS: It’s amazing for the club to be on national TV against one of the perennial powers in the league, a team that is performing like you would expect from the San Antonio team based off the history. So, it’s going to be a really difficult game against a really good opponent that is playing really well. But once we’re in the game, I’m thinking about what's happening on that pitch in the 116-yards-by-75.