Glendale, Colo. – On a whiteboard in Curt Johnson’s office, the number never changed. Fifty-one.
When Denver Summit was nothing more than a name, a crest and an ambitious ownership group, the club’s General Manager reduced the enormity of building a professional franchise to a simple equation: 26 players, 25 staff.
“We need 51 great people,” Johnson said. “Talent. Leaders. Builders.”
Whenever the process felt overwhelming – and there were days when it did – he returned to that number. Not formations. Not contracts. Not headlines about ticket sales. Just people.
What he didn’t know then was how closely that philosophy would align with the man he would hire to lead the team on the field.
Launching a club from scratch invites a thousand questions, and the first is deceptively simple: where do you begin?
With a head coach? With a marquee signing? With a tactical identity? Johnson – a sports executive with almost 30 years of experience across MLS, the A-League, USL, the NWSL and the NHL – resisted the urge to lock into one track too early.
“I didn’t want to fixate on one piece,” he explained. “You don’t want to get too far into role players and squad balance without alignment on the technical side.”
The alignment came quickly in the form of Nick Cushing, the former head coach of Manchester City Women in the Women’s Super League in England, either side of two years in charge of New York City FC in MLS.
For Cushing, the appeal of Denver wasn’t simply the job title. It was the opportunity to build.
“When I took the role, that was part of the reason I thought it was right for me,” Cushing told me. “I wanted to enjoy the strategic piece of building the roster and playing a part in that.”
What he found in Johnson and Assistant GM David Vaught was collaboration.
“I got really lucky with Curt and David,” Cushing said. “They’re really good collaborators. They have great knowledge of the league and how to win in the league. So, for us it started with using their experience but also marrying that with my idea of the game.”
Before the first player was signed, the philosophical groundwork was laid. Cushing outlined how he wanted the team to play – an attacking identity, built on intensity, speed and power. Johnson evaluated how that vision could translate within the realities of the league: the salary cap, roster rules, travel demands, altitude. The conversations went beyond formations.
“My opinion of a great working relationship isn’t about how you work together when you win,” Cushing said. “It’s about how you work together when you’re having difficult moments – and you’re definitely going to have that in expansion.”
Those honest discussions convinced both men they were aligned not just tactically, but temperamentally. There were formation conversations – a variation of a 4-3-3, an aggressive mindset that carries into defensive phases – but Cushing was clear that style meant little without the right profiles.
“I’ve said consistently I want to be an attacking team,” he said. “Without attacking intensity, that’s going to be difficult.”
So, recruitment began with attributes. Speed. Power. Physical capacity. The ability to attack the game.
“We highlighted players we knew would have intensity,” Cushing said. From there, the process widened. Free agency opened July 1. The league market was combed. International options were evaluated. College prospects were studied. Video calls replaced in-person scouting across vast distances.
In a league without an expansion draft or trades without player consent, every conversation was effectively selling a brand new team.
“You can’t start with an expansion draft by getting your first 10 players from other teams,” said Cushing. “Whereas I came from MLS and that’s what Charlotte did in their build, so everything is a sales pitch.”
Paradoxically, Cushing sees that as a strength.
“Everybody that wants to come, comes. And everybody that it’s not right for chooses to go elsewhere. You’re not convincing someone who doesn’t want to be here.”
There were inevitable pivots – players who chose different paths, negotiations that stalled – but the foundation began to take shape. Established league performers such as Abby Smith, Kaleigh Kurtz and Ally Brazier provided proven quality. Leaders like Janine Sonis brought experience as a captain in the league. Emerging talents and rookies offered long-term growth. European additions added a different dimension.
“You’re putting in the foundation,” Cushing said, “and then you’re building around that with how you’re going to achieve the style.”
If Johnson’s whiteboard read “51 great people,” Cushing’s recruiting meetings carried a similar clarity.
“From an attitude and character piece, I won’t bend on that,” he said. “We were really clear and transparent about what we would accept as a mentality and personality within the group.”
Players were asked direct questions: How do you like feedback? What’s your expectation of a coach? Who are you away from the field? Do you want responsibility within the leadership group?
“I’m a huge believer that we coach people before we coach players,” Cushing said. Everyone says they want a strong culture. Fewer want the responsibility of building it. “Not everybody wants to take responsibility and have a presence in the culture,” he added.
Through the first weeks of preseason, he saw signs that the balance was right – established leaders, but also emerging voices ready to grow. Johnson’s definition of culture remained simple: “Good people who work hard, who want to be part of a build project.”
Cushing gave that simplicity structure.
The roster wasn’t the only construction project. Cushing leaned into expanding the sporting department – adding Mike Smith as Director of Scouting, bringing two decades of league experience, and appointing a head of performance with prior NWSL background. Data joined traditional scouting. Physical metrics complemented the eye test.
Altitude became part of the discussion, though not the obsession.
“We leaned toward players with exceptional physical ability,” Cushing said. “You have to have players that fit the style. Otherwise, that’s where the disconnect is.”
At the same time, Denver’s central geography and airport access were viewed as competitive advantages in a league that stretches coast to coast. None of it guarantees wins. But all of it sharpens the margins.
For Johnson, the Summit project feels like the culmination of decades in the sport – lessons learned from successes and missteps alike.
“All of them,” he said when asked what experiences he’s drawn upon. For Cushing, it feels like history.
“It was possibly the one reason why I had a real desire to come here,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to lay the foundation for the future.”
In preseason, he reminded players that this would be a season of firsts – first training session, first friendly, first league match, first goal.
“All of those things we’ve got to embrace and enjoy,” he said. “We have to hold the responsibility of laying the foundation for the future as something we want to look back on and be really proud of.”
Ownership’s investment and belief – the commitment of Rob and Molly Cohen to grow the game in Colorado – adds weight to that responsibility.
For now, though, the work remains grounded in Johnson’s original equation. Fifty-one great people.
A coach who wanted to build. A GM who believed in collaboration. A roster assembled not just for talent, but for intensity and character.
In time, Denver Summit will be judged by results. But before the home opener in front of 40,000+ supporters, before the first goal in club history, there was something quieter and more deliberate:
Two leaders aligning a vision.
And 51 people chosen to bring it to life.
Read More: “The Vibes are High,” as Denver Summit Report for Preseason.
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John Babiak 
Matt Pollard 