The end of the 2018 season marked the end of an era for the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

In a tumultuous second season in the USL Championship, the side had been knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup by amateur side Jacksonville Armada FC – a result that brought the end of the tenure of Head Coach Stuart Campbell – and missed out on a playoff spot by eight points in the Eastern Conference.

After a few star-powered years led by the signing of former England international Joe Cole and former German international Marcel Schäfer, the club needed to reset. Under Head Coach Neill Collins – who stepped straight from the field to the sideline as Campbell’s replacement that May – a major roster overhaul began.

Between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, only nine players featured for the Rowdies in both campaigns, including the likes of Tarek Morad and Pape Diakite, brought in after Collins’ appointment to try and help shore up the defense.

Among them, Leo Fernandes and Sebastian Guenzatti went on to become club legends, but there were also new faces including goalkeeper John McCarthy that helped set the course toward the Rowdies claiming Eastern Conference titles in both 2020 and 2021 and the USL Championship Players’ Shield in the latter of those two years.

This offseason, there’s a similar feeling to what’s happening at Al Lang Stadium.

• New Midseason Arrival on the Sidelines? Check. The appointment of Head Coach Dominic Casciato in July helped revive the Rowdies’ postseason hopes, only for the side to fall short in the final stages.

• Notable Offseason Retirements and Departures? Check. Fernandes and three-time USL-C Defender of the Year Forrest Lasso each announced their retirements, while longtime center back Aaron Guillen’s departure was announced earlier this week.

• New Signings Arriving Apace? Check. The Rowdies have been the most active club in the free agent market so far this offseason, with Jamaican international goalkeeper Jahmali Waite, defender Leland Archer, midfielder Marco Micaletto and attacking pieces including Russell Cicerone, Karsen Henderlong, Pedro Dolabella and Evan Conway making their way to the club in the past two weeks.

There will be more names to come in the weeks ahead as the Rowdies retool after finishing in 10th place in the East in the 2025 season – a finish that for the first time in which it was eligible to participate in its modern era saw the side miss out on a berth in the field for next year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup due to its abridged professional field.

The onus then will fall to Casciato to build a coherent unit that can quickly challenge to return to the top of the Eastern Conference. Having achieved remarkable success at Union Omaha – leading the side to the USL League One Players’ Shield in 2023 and 2024 and earning Coach of the Year honors both years – there was good reason for the Rowdies to appoint him to one of the USL Championship’s marquee jobs in July.

If it all comes together, as it did seven years ago, the Rowdies will be set to challenge for silverware again sooner rather than later.