Five Thoughts on Former Rapids Manager Robin Fraser Returning to Toronto FC

TORONTO, ONTARIO – This week, Toronto FC announced the hiring of Robin Fraser as their new head coach. Fraser previously served as the manager at Colorado Rapids from August 2019 – September 2023. Prior to that, he was an assistant with the Reds going back to 2015.

I covered the Fraser Era in Commerce City from start to finish. Fraser was the right hire and he led the way on what was the second best season in Rapids history (2021). The Jamaican American was part of the problem in 2023, but there was plenty of blame to go around that year. Here’s some thoughts on Fraser returning to the coaching game.

First off, good for him.

Robin’s a good person and good professional from everything I can tell. A full season out of coaching (a consulting job notwithstanding). Interviewed for several jobs last year including New England. He did lose the plot a bit tactically and got repetitive, which might have hurt him.

“Happy for him. It’s a place he’s familiar with. He did well here. We had a great run for three years that we were together. Wish him nothing but the best. It will be exciting to see how he adapts from here to Toronto. Different conference, so we don’t play them this year. I was glad to see that,” Cole Bassett told Burgundy Wave on Rapids Media Day last week.

But he did great stuff at Colorado, and with so little financial support. He deserved another chance as a head coach in MLS. And it’s another gig where he’ll be given time and be in a position to succeed. On that note . . .

This was the perfect hire for Toronto.

Let’s be real, Greg Vanney leaves for LA Galaxy a year later, Fraser gets promoted and he might still be in the job. He had the highest stock of any assistant when they won MLS Cup. He builds a culture and doesn’t suffer fools.

TFC has lost its way the last few years. They’ve cycled through coaches, had a locker room cancer DP or two, and done one-shot rebuilds with aging players. They need a rebuild with a longer time horizon. And they need a leader with a steady hand. That’s Fraser. Welcome back.

He has to prove he can develop youth.

Fraser is not without his faults. For being hired by a club that’s all in on youth, Fraser didn’t really develop that many of the young talents. Bassett and Sam Vines were already established first team players when he was hired. Yes, he coached Moïse Bombito in his rookie year. But Bombi only got 301 minutes under Fraser, and 450 minutes in the seven games under interim Chris Little. Oli Larraz did great in 2024, but could never break into the lineup before that.

Fraser had a high threshold for Homegrowns and SuperDraft players to get more than peanut minutes under him. TFC hasn’t gotten value out of their academy. There’s a growing list of academy kids who’ve gone elsewhere in MLS and succeeded. Fraser’s had a year to think about what he could improve on. TFC’s in a rebuild. What a better time to play the kids?

With a year long sabbatical, how has his view of the game evolved?

It will be interesting to see what Fraser does tactically with this team. He didn’t change much from that Rapids team in 2019. Then when he had three good center backs and a dynamic wing back, he switched to a 5-3-2 in 2021. Things got repetitive and bad in 2023. It’s still not clear to me what Fraser’s preferred tactics and views on the game are? He’s on a team that will spend. Maybe this is finally Robin’s chance to build a team exactly as he wants it.

In another weird MLS trade, Rapids staff move to TFC.

Fraser didn’t waste anytime getting his band back together. TFC acquired former Rapids assistant coach Neil Emblen and video coach Jase Kim in a trade for their first round SuperDraft pick this year. Burgundy Wave has reported that Jonathan Lewis could be signing as well.

Trading a draft pick for coaching staff members with conditional GAM and sell on clauses. There’s nothing like MLS

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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