Crown Legacy coach Jose Tavares resigns to rejoin family

STEVE GOLDBERG | THE CHARLOTTE POST

José Torres coached his final match with Charlotte FC Thursday, a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia Union II. Tavares is returning to Portugal to be with family and FC Porto as academy genderal manager.

The team and coaching staff circled near midfield, arms wrapped around shoulders in solidarity and support, as they always do. The match had not gone as they wanted, certainly not on this night, a 3-0 loss to the league leading Philadelphia Union II. This huddle was much bigger as it included players from last year’s squad who are now with Charlotte FC’s first team who wanted to be there.

The match was the last for coach José Tavares and top assistant Pedro Mane, the founding coaches for Charlotte FC’s MLS Next Pro team, Crown Legacy. Coming to Charlotte from Portugal in 2022, Tavares left one family behind so he could help build another. Now, wanting to be home in Porto with his wife and three sons, who returned after the 2023 season, Tavares, 41, made the decision to join them. Mane, whose wife and daughters are in Portugal, did the same.

Tavares will return to FC Porto, where he will take on the role of academy general manager.

“I need to go back to my country, back to my family, to my three kids that I love and they are missing me,” Tavares explained. “I realized during this time that families are important, and I need to be a great dad as well. And this is one of my main responsibilities in life.”

In their time with the club, Tavares and Mane, along with assistant coach Kevin Sawchak who will take the reins as interim head coach, and staff created a culture of confidence, accountability, and trust in teammates that exceeded expectations.

Legacy were one of the best teams in MLS Next Pro out the gate, going 19-4-5, winning the Eastern Conference, including 9-0-5 at home. More important for the coach of a developmental team is the number of players that move up to earn first team minutes, which includes bridging the gap from college and academy players to the top flight professional game. The Legacy proved their worth in that, with Patrick Agyemang, defender Andrew Privett and homegrown signee Nimfasha Berchimas. Four players who started with MLS Next Pro – João Pedro, Iuri Tavares, Nikola Petkovi? and Chituru Odunze – earned MLS contracts for this season.

Brandon Cambridge, 22, the former University of Portland player whose MLS homegrown rights were acquired from Vancouver, played nine games for Legacy last year. After getting minutes as a late sub in five MLS matches, he solidified his first team place with both goals in a 2-0 win against Chicago Fire.

“José and Pedro been a really big part of my development at the club. When I first came last year, 2023, I was really struggling the first couple of preseason games, and I remember José and Pedro, sitting down with me and just saying, “Look, you know, we really believe in you want you to be a big part of Crown Legacy.” Obviously, once you get the minutes here and the confidence to move up to the first team. Them doing that, showing the belief that they had in me, my confidence only grew from there. And you know, scoring two goals against Chicago at home, you know, right after that, I got my chances first, and then I took it and ran with it.”

José you can see

Tavares realized early that his gift in soccer was improving the game of others and began coaching at 22. He could see the talent in young players and help them refine it and maximize their opportunity. His success with teaching and developing young players led him to a club famous for that as well as winning on the pitch in FC Porto.

“I'm someone that wants to live my life, developing myself and helping others, as human beings and professional players,” he said upon arrival in 2022. “I am more than a football coach because I really care about the players that I have, the staff that sits around myself and other people. Because if we are happy and if someone is caring about someone, we can give more.”

Attracting a coach with his stature from a top European side to a fledgling MLS club was no small feat. Tavares previously said he had been aware of Charlotte FC and their academy prior to getting the offer. And that Charlotte was the Queen City, and his favorite band was Queen might have played a small part in his decision to come here.

“I think it's insurmountable what Jose and Pedro have done for the club” said Legacy president Darrius Barnes after the game. “They came in before Crown Legacy even had a name. For them to come here and you know, take a chance on us. And then for them to just to dive in with two feet, believing in the project that we're building here with Charlotte FC and Crown Legacy FC and just the work that they that they've done has been magnificent in helping us at the foundational level for some of our player development initiatives, club culture, just the fabric of the team.”

“I was happy,” said Tavares. “I had two amazing years at this club. I come from a great club in Europe. Because God made me come here. I embraced the project to help build a club, a strong culture at this club, an ambitious club to win things. And I believe that since the very first day, they understood that I was coming here just to share, not to change, to share. And everybody was so amazing. So I spent two years happy.”

Still building a legacy

Continuing this work will now fall to Sawchak as the club seeks a permanent successor to Tavares. Brian Edwards will remain in his role as goalkeeper coach, and Charlotte FC Academy coach Jorge Herrera, who previously starred with the Charlotte Eagles and Charlotte Independence, will join the CLFC coaching staff on an interim basis.

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