For Chattanooga FC boss Rod Underwood, it doesn't matter who his side’s up against or what league they’re in. He’s created a set of core values. And they fit any opponent – whether last year’s Third Round foe, Atlanta United of MLS, or this year’s: Birmingham Legion of the USL Championship.
Going into his second season as head coach of Chattanooga FC, Underwood always puts an emphasis on keeping the ball. “If we have the ball, we can't get scored on,” he told
usopencup.com. “We’re upset when we don't have the ball, so we fight to get the ball back.”
But it goes a little deeper than that for the 55-year-old, who led his Chattanooga side to a first-place finish in the NISA regular season Eastern standings last year and to the playoff semifinals.
Following the Ball
“We're only here in Chattanooga because this ball has brought us together…the ball continues to keep us connected on a fundamental level, on a personal level, and on a tactical level. It’s the link.”
Underwood, who says he always wants his players to be “free to express themselves,” never shies away from hard truths. He tells his players exactly what they need to hear in the moment, as he understands it, and he listens to them with the same respect.
“One thing I learned, especially in my early days of coaching, was that some of these guys are smarter than me,” Underwood admitted.
