After six consecutive USL Championship playoff appearances, the Tampa Bay Rowdies fell short of qualifying for this year’s postseason on the final matchday of the regular season. Watching from home as the playoffs unfold is an unfamiliar feeling for both fans in Tampa Bay and head coach Coach Dominic Casciato, who took the helm in early July after leading Union Omaha to a league title last year and back-to-back USL League One Players’ Shields.
In the interview below, Casciato reflects on his first few months in charge, what changes are in store for the squad in 2026, and the path forward to restore the Rowdies status as championship contenders.
Despite making significant progress on the field after you joined the club, the Rowdies just missed out on making the playoffs for the first time since 2018. With time to reflect, how have you digested that disappointment?
Casciato: It’s easy to focus on missing out on the playoffs, but anyone that watched us play will have recognized how much better we got over the course of the 17 games we had together. We went from averaging around 0.8 points per game at the beginning of the season to 1.5 points per game at the end – almost double in terms of points per game we were able to pick up. So, if we had a little bit more time with the group, I think we would have made the playoffs. Any time you have disappointment, or you fall short of a goal, it slaps you in the face and sharpens your senses. I think in the long run, it’s going to be a really good thing for us because it puts into focus what we need to be successful in 2026 and beyond. We’ve already made progress toward that in the offseason with some of our incoming signings so I can’t wait for pre-season to get here.
Given all the stresses that came with taking over in the middle of the season, how much of an advantage can these last few months be for you as you look toward 2026?
Casciato: It was a huge advantage coming in midseason. It was painful when I arrived because the team were bottom of the league at that point and obviously no one is ever happy when that is the case. Then there’s the outside stresses of moving your family, finding somewhere to live, all of this stuff is stress you don’t want when you’re in the middle of a season trying to win games, but it certainly helped me grow a lot. It also taught me a lot about us as a club, the players, the coaching staff, and the league as well. So really, coming in when I did was perfect because it sets us up nicely going into 2026 with the knowledge of exactly what we need to be successful. Of course, there were challenges, but there was a lot of growth for me and everybody in the building to be hyper focused on what we need moving forward.
You weren’t new to the USL Championship but you had been out of the league for a few years. What have you learned about the league this year that you’ll take into next season?
Casciato: The biggest thing is that this league is getting better every single year. Everybody sees that. The players are better; the coaches are better. Tactically the teams are better. Even stadiums are getting better across the league, and the fan experience is improving too. That just makes everything more competitive. In the past, Tampa Bay was one of 7 or 8 clubs that were doing things the right way. Now that number has dramatically increased. The league has gotten better overall, and players are a lot more athletic. Play is more transitional in the Eastern Conference than it is in the Western Conference. So, making sure your teams are ready to handle the athleticism and that transitional nature of games in the East is important for us going into 2026.
Your success in Omaha put you on the radar for a few different coaching opportunities. With a half season in Tampa Bay under your belt, how have you found that experience so far?
Casciato: I’ve love being here and the club is fantastic, and I’d like to put on record how grateful I am to Nico and Ryan for trusting me with this opportunity. I have been welcomed with open arms by the community and everyone at the club. I think that has given me the platform to do focus on doing good work, and now with tremendous new ownership led by Ken Babby that will continue to be the case. I did have other opportunities before I came here, but I was waiting for something that really felt right. This felt right for me. I am really excited for the future because I think we can do great things together.
You’ve had the chance to meet some club legends as we celebrated the Rowdies 50th Anniversary this season. What has it meant for you to take on leading a club with a rich history?
Casciato: It is a great honor. To go gull circle, when the Rowdies were restarting back in 2009 and I was still playing, I had a phone call with Perry Van der Beck about potentially trying out for the team. To get to build a relationship with Perry now has been fantastic. I think part of the reason this job felt right to me was because there’s real weight and real history behind this club. That shouldn’t be taken for granted. There’s not many clubs in American soccer that have the kind of history that we have. We need to tap into that more. We need to make sure we respect and we honor that. When we step onto the field, we’re following in the footsteps of those who have come before us and had great success. We can’t take that lightly.
As you looked to build next year’s roster, what is the main quality or factor you’ve looked for in players?
Casciato: We need guys that are hungry to win. Tampa Bay is an easy place for people to come and say, “I can see out my career here and retire here because it’s a great place to live, the weather’s always great, the beach is close by.” We need to get away from that. We need to make sure that anyone we bring to this football club is hungry to win here, first and foremost. My job is to find those guys. First off, they need to be good players, they need to have good attitudes, and they need to help us be able to play the way we want to play. But they also have got to be hungry to achieve something here because we should be fighting at the top of the table every year. We need players that want to do that more than anything else.
How have you pitched the Rowdies and Tampa Bay to potential new players?
Casciato: This club sells itself. We have an unbelievable training ground, a great stadium, every type of resource for these guys. It is a great place to live, but as I just said, we don’t want guys who want to be here just because of that. We want guys that want to win here. So, my pitch is ‘this the way we want to play and we think this is how you fit into that.’ I don’t think I’m really selling it, I’m telling them what the expectations are and how they can fit into that. If we both think it’s a fit after that conversation, come here and let’s win together. I don’t think we should be selling anything here – Players should be excited to come to the Rowdies.
Do you feel we started to see the level and style you want out of the team in the final months of the season?
Casciato: There is a much higher level we can reach on the field. With a full preseason, hopefully we start to move closer toward that. Last year was tough in terms of being able to implement the style while trying to stabilize the group and learning about the players and trying to get points on the board. I’m excited for what we can do with a fresh start. Anyone that knows my teams and the way I have coached in the past knows that we are usually well organized, hard to beat and exciting to watch. That’s what we’re building. It’s not going to be there day one, but we will get there. It just takes time. Once we get there, we are going to be tough to stop.
What can you share about the new group of players that will coming in for 2026?
Casciato: Right now, we’ve got a lot of new faces coming in with a significant amount of next year’s roster already signed. The average age of the squad will come down to make us younger and everybody that we bring in is going to compete for a starting slot. I don’t think there are any players coming in thinking anything is going to be given to them. That’s a really important mentality to have on any team. If 11 players know they’re going to start every week, and they’re not challenged or pushed by the guys behind them during training, then they can allow their levels to drop. I think we’ll have strong competition for every position, which will make everyone better.
