Commerce City, Colo. – Colorado Rapids 2 Head Coach Erik Bushey is expected to leave the club after nearly a decade in the organization, as first reported by Tom Bogert of The Athletic. Burgundy Wave can confirm this reporting. Bushey is expected to join MLS NEXT Pro expansion side AC Grand Rapids, who will start in 2027.
Erik Bushey’s R2 and Colorado legacy:
Bushey has been the only Head Coach in Rapids 2 history. They just completed their fifth season in MLS NEXT Pro. It was a disappointing year for R2, finishing last in the Western Conference. R2’s history has been very feast or famine with the even numbered years being poor. The player development cycle has given R2 a stacked roster to make two Western Conference Finals. It’s also given Bushey years where he has to play a bunch of 19-year-olds.
Bushey has been with the Rapids since April 2017. He coached Cole Bassett in the academy. Before the Rapids, he spent 15 years at Colorado Rush. He coached Lindsey Heaps as a teenager there. He was probably the most decorated NEXT Pro coach with no first team coaching experience when he got hired.
He was a good person, a patient but firm coach, and a steady hand. And he dealt with change and difficult circumstances well.
Erik did well adapting to three different first team coaches’ style of play. R2 mostly mimicked what the first team was doing tactically. Each of his five years, I can point to one or two R2 players who get better to then made the jump to the first team or a USL Championship club. Oli Larraz, Darren Yapi, Yosuke Hanya, and Marlon Vargas, just to name a few.
Doing that while changing styles every year or two and being really bad sometimes is no small feat. He never complained. He did the best he could with what he had where he was. He always did right by his players and the club. Make them better and try to win the next game.
Grand Rapids are getting a damn good coach who will be difference maker for young players in their careers.
Thoughts on the timing of his departure:
This comes a bit as a surprise but the move makes sense. Bushey did sign an extension in February after taking R2 to the NEXT Pro cup. He’s been in Colorado for almost 25 years. It would have been 10 years with the Rapids next April. That’s a long time. Most non-first team coaches and staff that stay at one MLS team for a decade either stay for life or take a job outside that bubble.
One might consider an independent expansion NEXT Pro team to be a lateral move. He’ll have more say in personnel and tactics. No more losing his best player midseason to the first team. There’s got to be a freedom and excitement in being the guy.
What formation and style of play does Bushey want to run when there’s no MLS team to provide that direction? We’re about to find out.
Grand Rapids is also building an amazing 8,500 stadium. R2 wasn’t getting that. It is funny that he’s leaving the Rapids for Grand Rapids. Something something Atlanta Hawks.
Where does Rapidos go from here?
I don’t know. It would be very Rapids and KSE to hire from within. Collen Warner is a former Rapid and MLS journeyman with lots of experience. He’s been on Bushey’s staff since 2023. Elliot Prost has been a first team assistant for several years and previously coached Colorado Rush in USL League 2. Both of them know about coaching youth-based teams down the soccer pyramid.
Maybe there’s a coach in the academy who’s worked with Marcelo Balboa for several years who’s been groomed for this. Maybe Matt Wells knows an assistant or academy coach back in England who’d be perfect for being his NEXT Pro clone. Tottenham’s U18 coach Jamie Carr is averaging over two points per game. I wouldn’t mind Eamon Zayed back in Colorado after he’s had a good inaugural season with Corpus Christi.
Even with Bushey’s departure, R2’s mission should be the same. Develop young players from the academy, SuperDraft, and other signings. They should play like the first team to prepare players for making and contributing to the first team. Maybe a different voice is needed for that role.
Is the best candidate for that job someone with Rapids experience or Wells’ experience?
Burgundy Wave will continue to report as this story develops throughout the offseason.
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Brendan Ploen 