2026 USL League One Most Handsome Manager Rankings

Welcome back to the third annual USL League One Most Handsome Manager rankings. I can’t believe this will be the third year of such nonsense, but here we are. 

If this is your first time here I’m glad you’re joining us. And I’m sorry.  Read on and you'll understand.

I do this for a couple of reasons. First is because it’s kind of fun to put together each year. Second, it’s actually helpful for me to do a little research on all the managers. I mean, how else would we have found out last year that Knoxville’s Ian Fuller’s Honeyfund site was still active and you could leave a comment in the guest book. I mean, there’s no reason we should know that, but sometimes you come across something and just have to share it. (I did not leave a comment.)

With this being the third year, we have a few interesting wrinkles on the list. First, we say goodbye to a few managers from last year. Dominic Casciato (Omaha), Rick Wright (Greenville), Adrian Forbes (Texoma), Dave Carton (Westchester) and Ian Cameron (Tormenta) are all no longer managing in the league. Meanwhile, Mark McKeever (Tormenta) and Eamon Zayed (Corpus Christi) were on the 2024 list but didn’t manage at the start of the 2025 season and are now back for 2026. 

A few caveats to get to before going forward. 

First, I stole this idea from Craig Calcaterra who used to rank the handsomeness of MLB Managers back at NBCSports when he was a writer there. He retired the bit and while I didn’t exactly ask permission to use the idea here, he has liked my post on Bluesky when I promote it so I’m taking that as at least tacit approval from him that it’s ok. 

Second, these are just my rankings (well, with some input from my oldest and his girlfriend to make sure I’m not way off base here). You may disagree. In fact, I’d be shocked if my list matched yours exactly. That’s ok. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s supposed to be fun so if your preferred manager isn’t as high (or as low) as you think he deserves, I promise I mean no ill will.

Third, our process. The overwhelming majority of my “research” is simply typing the manager’s name and team name into Google Image Search and ranking the results. However, that has led to some rankings that I didn’t think were fair upon further review, so we reserve the right to use other search parameters if needed.

Finally, just as the woman who finishes last in the Miss America Pageant is still incredibly beautiful, the manager who finishes last in the Most Handsome Manager rankings is still handsome. It’s right there in the title.

That’s enough preamble. As Outkast once sang, “Ya’ll don’t want to hear me, you just want to dance.”

18.  Dave Dixon (Greenville Triumph) - One of the challenges of doing this is finding photos, especially of new coaches. Sure, they all have their introductory headshots for the press release, usually of them wearing a team scarf, but after that, it’s slim pickings. Dixon has been around USL for a while, with Indy 11, Charlotte, and earning USL League Two Coach of the Year in 2017. Now he’s at Greenville, which given my longstanding hatred of all things Greenville, means I’m supposed to hate him too. But he seems like a nice enough guy. I’m hoping someone at the Triumph manages to take some photos of him during the season.

17. Mike Avery (Fort Wayne FC) - Without looking it up, how old is Mike Avery? Take a guess. Wikipedia tells me he's 57. If you told me 47, I'd have believed you. Avery has the most extensive Wikipedia entry of any USL1 coach. In it, I learned he played for Real Santa Barbra, but that was before Shawn Spencer and Burton Gustor were solving crimes there, but Henry Spencer was on the beat. Maybe Shawn and Gus went to a game. Avery should stick with the glasses. It gives him a more distinguished look.

16. Bobby Murphy (Portland Hearts of Pine) - I don't know if Murphy has a nickname or not, but going off this picture, I'd like to suggest we start calling him "The Mayor of Portland." And after a season that saw the Hearts make the playoffs in their inaugural season and galvanize the fanbase of Maine, it would be a well-earned moniker. He's even got the look of a city councilmember who really doesn't want to listed to Mildred Jones complain about the lack of parking near her favorite shops and that's why she opposes the new apartment complex on the other side of the city. Next stop for Murphy is Governor of Maine.

15. Mike Jeffries (Charlotte Independence) - Jeffries played his colege soccer at Duke where they reached the 1982 championship game. The Blue Devils fell to Indiana in eight (EIGHT) overtimes. This has nothing to do do with this ranking. I just thought you should know about it. He also spent three years working in wealth management for Smith Barney. And he made three appearances for the USMNT. Throw in a few visits to Statesboro and it's quite the life he's led. Can he be League One's grandpa? He's got a stately look about him.

14. Mika Elovaara (Sarasota Paradise) - The first thing I noticed about Elovaara’s photos is that he’s smiling.  A lot. Maybe it’s because he gets to live in Sarasota, which Wikipedia tells me is literally nicknamed “paradise.” (It also lists “circus city” as a nickname, for what it’s worth). Elovaara served in Richmond under Darren Sawatzky from 2019 through the end of last season. He’s certainly pulling off the “Bald is Beautiful” thing and his expressive face adds to his handsomeness. You got a good one there, Sarasota, but if things go sideways, expect a lot of circus comparisons. Actually, if things go well you could get those too because a circus is supposed to be fun.

13. George Gjokaj (Westchester SC) - Gjokaj comes to Westchester after years at Purchase College. (As someone with a high school junior, I will also be looking to purchase college in the coming years.) He’s a fine looking guy. Most of his Westchester photos show him sans glasses, but his Purchase College photo shows him as a fellow glasses wearer. I don’t know that he’s turning heads among the Westchester fans who are there only for coaching hotness, but you could do a lot worse than looking like Gjokaj. 

12. Mark McKeever (South Georgia Tormenta) - McKeever returns to the list after placing eighth in the inaugural list and not appearing on the 2025 list. McKeever’s photos make him look taller than he is. Born in Motherwell, Scotland, McKeever is somehow not listed on the notable people from there on Wikipedia. McKeever looks like a middle school assistant principal who got pressed into service coaching the girls’ soccer team. We’re going to hope he didn’t read this and still wants to talk to me at practice and after games. 

11. Darren Sawatzky (Richmond Kickers) - Did I check to see when Richmond played in Statesboro before assigning a final ranking here? Yes I did because I continue to live in fear of Darren Sawatzky. I think it’s the all-black attire and the intensity in his look that says he would lose it at a Texas Roadhouse if the server brought unsweet tea instead of sweet tea. (To be clear, II don’t think he’d actually do this.) In the past I’ve described him as the dad who gets upset when you crash the family car and the middle school teacher upset he got passed over for a promotion. This year I’ll add he looks like a librarian who had to tell the teenagers to be quiet one too many times. Despite all that, every time I hear him speak on a podcast, he seems like a nice guy. 

10. Vincenzo Candela (Union Omaha) - I should not complain when a manager has a wikipedia page, but Candela’s made me laugh because under “Early Life” it says, in its entirety "His father is Italian and his mother is Colombian." That's it. There's not anything abut his actual early life, just where his parents are from. Candela played for Tormenta in 2021. I can't decide if he looks like that cool professor who lets you call him by his first name or the drummer for an early 2000s pop punk band that had Bowling for Soup cover their best song and get a hit out of it. Candela took over for Casciato when the latter left to take the top job with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

9. Davide Corti (New York Cosmos) - At first glance I thought the Cosmos had hired Nate Bargatze as their coach, which would have been comical on multiple levels. Upon closer inspection, they’re clearly different people. Not a lot of photos of Corti using our search parameters. He played professionally in Italy, but I don’t think he’s ever played the North Charleston Coliseum on a Saturday afternoon like Bargatze did when I saw his comedy show. In conclusion, Corti and Bargatze are a land of contrasts.

8. Brian Kleiban (AV Alta) - If ZZ Top is to be believed (and if you can't trust those guys then who can you trust?), every girl is crazy for a sharp dressed man. Kleiban looks sharp in every game. I have no qualms naming him the best dressed manager in USL1. (Please don't expect me to do that ranking!) I'm usually trying to go as causal and as comfortable as I can for work and Kleiban s out her setting the bar incredibly high for coaching attire. He pulls it off well. I was too low on him last year as the clothes really do make the man.

7. Matt Glaeser (Forward Madison) - It seems Wisconsin did not take my advice to make Glaeser the face of their State Parks marketing campaign in 2025, but 2026 is a new year with new possibilities. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to have it click in my brain, but over the offseason it finally came together for me as to who Glaeser reminds me of. He’s like if Al Borland from Home Improvement decided home repair wasn’t his calling and coaching soccer was his true passion. That’s not an insult. Tim got all the attention, but Al was the skilled craftsman who made things work. (For you young kids, Home Improvement was a television show in the 1990s with a doofus .. you know what, just google it.)

6. Ian Fuller (One Knox) - Fresh off a 2025 USL1 Championship and an undefeated home slate, Fuller let his facial hair grow during the 2025 season. If he likes it that way, awesome, but I’m not a fan. The “I haven’t shaved in two days” look worked, but the full on beard and mustache isn’t working for me and as we all know, his number one priority should be where he falls in these dumb rankings. I will feel really bad if he has a clause in his contract where he gets a bonus if he finishes in the Top Five in USL1 Manager Handsomeness. I would be concerned that his agent negotiated that as well. He’ll have to console himself about dropping in this year’s rankings with the memories of winning a title.

5. Nate Miller (AC Boise) - When college students at work call me "sir" I usually give them a hard time and say something like "I may be old, but I don't want to feel old." Seeing that Miller is not yet 40 is one of those things that makes me feel old. Miller looks like he could be a TV anchor bringing me the sports at a medium sized television market. Only good looking guys get those gigs and Miller certainly is that. Soccer seems to be working out pretty well for him, but if things go sideways, I could see him at KIVI Channel 6 in Boise telling us about the local high school basketball team's run in the state playoffs. (I'm sure the current KIVI Channel 6 sports anchor is great, I'm not trying to get them fired.)

4. Scott Mackenzie (Chattanooga RedWolves) - Perennially at or near the top of these rankings (second in 2024, your winner in 2025), Mackenzie is also a pretty, pretty good Manager, winning the 2025 USL League One Coach of the Year to go along with USL1 Most Handsome Manager. Truly a magical year for Mackenzie and who can say which of those honors meant more to him? (The Coach of the Year award did. I can say that, but if Mackenzie wants to tell me otherwise, I won’t be upset about it.) What this means is we have a new winner this year.

3. Eamon Zayed (Corpus Christi) - And that winner is not the 2024 title holder as Zayed finishes on the podium but with bronze this year. Zayed, known for wearing his sweater on the sidelines, is managing at a place where the average low temperature between the end of May and the end of September is no lower than 73 degrees. Methinks a wardrobe change may be in order. The guy's a good looking dude and a great coach. Corpus Christi plays in Statesboro in mid-September so we'll all be watching to see what his coaching attire is for that game

2. Matt Poland (FC Naples) - I was out of town when Naples played in Statesboro last year so I missed getting to see him in person. Poland led Naples to the fourth seed in the playoffs in their inaugural year so the man can clearly coach. If you told me this photo was the promotional one used by ABC for its next season of The Bachelor, I would absolutely believe you.  When does that show film? Could Poland get on the show during the offseason and use it to promote USL League One and FC Naples while finding a woman who was there for the right reasons? Someone at USL HQ, let's make this happen. (Full disclosure: I don’t know Poland’s relationship status so if there is a special someone in his life, we can skip the whole “go on a dating reality show” thing.) Does an improvement in these standings mean an improvement in the 2026 Naples performance? 

1. Leigh Veidman (Spokane Velocity) - Of all my rankings last year, this is the one I was most wrong on. I remember seeing him walk past me following Spokane's game in Statesboro and thinking "yeah, I got that one wrong" in case you were wondering how my postgame thought process works. Just a handsome guy all around. And he's led Spokane to back-to-back championship game appearances. (If the Velocity return again this year, I am saying now that, physically, back-to-back-to-back is not possible. The logistics just don't work. It'd be more like back-to-back-to-belly.) I'm hoping next offseason Veidman could start in a remake of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" taking on the George Clooney role. You'd watch that. In fact, now you're wanting to watch that.

If you'll indulge me, I give myself one post a year where, at the end, I make a personal request. If you are willing and able to do so and would like to support my son's high school soccer team, here is the link to do that. If you can, I would be most appreciative. If you can't, I'm still most appreciative of you reading and hopefully enjoying what I do here. Whatever you do, please take a moment to help someone somewhere.