In the weeks after Darren Powell was named head coach of San Antonio’s new professional soccer team in January, the English native wasn’t spending his time familiarizing himself with the locker rooms or sidelines of Toyota Field. Instead, he was scouring the world looking for players to don a San Antonio FC uniform when the United Soccer League (USL) season begins this spring. “It feels like the phone is attached to my ear,” laughs Powell.

Assembling a pro team in a matter of weeks is no easy task. But Powell, who most recently spent two years with Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Orlando City, knows that the job he was hired to accomplish is far greater and longer-term than the initial mad scramble to bring a team of quality players to the Alamo City.

Indeed, everyone from the Spurs Sports & Entertainment execs who hired Powell to Mayor Ivy Taylor and Judge Nelson Wolff have made it clear that the arrival of a USL franchise at Toyota Field—which the city and county paid $18 million to buy and now leases to the Spurs Sports & Entertainment management team—is part of a plan to secure an MLS team. Last December, league commissioner Don Garber said that the MLS expects to expand from the current 20 teams to 24 teams by 2020 and then eventually 28 teams. (MLS officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

Put another way, Powell is San Antonio’s David Beckham (minus the underwear ads and ubiquity, of course). Just as Beckham’s involvement is a big reason Miami was awarded an MLS franchise in the last round of expansion, Powell’s efforts will be central to whether San Antonio can beat out the likes of St. Louis, San Diego and Las Vegas. That game plan starts with the players. “It’s very important that we put a good product on the field, one that the coaches and the Spurs organization and the fans can be particularly proud of,” he says.

He also knows that San Antonio has to prove it has a fan base that will eagerly support MLS for decades. Powell and his team must win over fans of the now-disbanded San Antonio Scorpions. “I think the most important things we can do as players and staff is be accessible to the fans,” he says. Over the longer term, though, Powell is eager to develop youth in San Antonio who aspire to eventually play for their hometown squad. He sees that as a way to deepen and expand local support for professional soccer.

And of course he hopes to be on the sidelines himself if and when an MLS team arrives. “I will try my hardest over the next couple of years to put us in a position as a club to make that transition,” he says. “My work will determine that fate.” The clock is already ticking: The city and county have given the Spurs six years to land an MLS team before they have to start paying back a portion of the money they spent to buy Toyota Field.