Mark Lowry Sees Good Times Ahead In Jacksonville

Photo credit: Todd Drexler/Jacksonville Armada FC

For most professional soccer players, the notion of becoming a coach usually seeps into their consciousness somewhere between the substitute’s bench and the most recent pulled hamstring.

Not Mark Lowry.

“I stopped playing at a quite a young age,” said Lowry, who had the interim tag removed from his title on Tuesday by Jacksonville Armada FC. “At the time I was coaching children and I came to realize that coaching is really about education.”

He was part of Coventry City’s academy until, he told The Telegraph, he “fell out of love with playing.” As he soldiered on in non-league soccer with Hereford United and Stafford Rangers, Lowry obtained his UEFA B coaching license at age 19 (he has since also obtained a coveted UEFA A badge).

“I never played at the top level, I knew I wasn’t cut out for that,” he said. “I knew I would never make it to the top, but saw coaching as a way to get to the top. I love the game and it really goes back to a love of teaching. I do love the pro side, the week-to-week grind, tactically breaking down games. But I still think development is massive.”

Since taking over at Jacksonville on Aug. 7, at the time an interim replacement for Tony Meola, Lowry has made a commitment to the club’s younger players. That group includes Charles Eloundou, Danny Barrow, and Derek Gebhard (a young striker who was signed to a contract extension on Wednesday). Under Lowry, the club has gone 2W-5D-2L in nine games and is now on a four-game unbeaten streak. In his first game calling the shots, Jacksonville snapped an NASL record 25-game winless streak with the club’s first road win, at Ottawa on Aug. 13.

“He's been really impressive from Day 1,” veteran defender Tyler Ruthven said. “As players, when a coach that has never been a head coach takes over, you just want to see how they can take control of a room when speaking. Right away on the trip to Ottawa he had guys’ attention, and not just casually, guys were glued in trying to retain every tactical detail he was putting in place for the future.

“Since that day he has just continued to install his vision for this club and it's been fun. I feel like he's definitely making me into a better player and that's a good feeling. He has a clear-cut plan to get to where we want to be and I'm happy to be a part of it.”

After working as an academy coach and scout for English clubs Birmingham City (in his hometown) and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Lowry decamped for the United States, landing a position with Orlando City’s academy and PDL squad.

“We were looking for a coach who is passionate, hardworking, and most importantly teaches the game,” Armada FC Technical Director Nathan Walter said. “We have all seen the ability of Mark over the last nine games, and we look forward to the future success he will bring to this progressive football club.”

At 31, Lowry is the youngest coach in the North American Soccer League, younger than several players currently on the Jacksonville roster. He said his goal is for the club to develop a discernable identity after two years of changes on the field and in the front office.

“I’m a big believer, when you look at managers, take Barcelona for example. It will exist and be the same no matter who the manager is,” Lowry said. “The players must fit, the philosophy comes first. You can’t keep hiring coaches and keep changing the philosophy to adapt to the players you acquire. It has to be the other way around.

“We have a long way to go in developing that identity, but I think we’re on the right path. We have a system in place and we know the type of player who will fit into our system. Even though I was interim for a time, I had to make decisions that I thought would benefit the club in the long term. The style and the personnel we now have in place will benefit us for next season. Part of that is giving our young guys valuable minutes now. They are the future. We understand they are going to make mistakes. Maybe they won’t be successful now, but success will come. I want young, energetic players, and I want to develop players.”

With five games left in the year, Jacksonville and Lowry continue to look towards the future.

“I haven’t been too wrapped up in what’s going on in the league, our record, or the last two or three games,” he said. “It’s about coming in every day and let’s just get better as players and human beings. If we do that, the bigger picture is becoming better. I take an overall view, the games will take care of themselves.

“The first question I ask anyone is: ‘Why do you do this? Why do you play?’ If they can answer that it’s not because of the money or because they’re good at it, then there is a deeper meaning and that’s a good sign. That’s the type of person I’m looking for. This is still a young club and we have an exciting project in front of us.”