It’s not your typical soccer practice carpool. There is no minivan, no overstuffed backpacks fresh off a day at school. Instead, it’s the head coach of an MLS team and two members of his staff battling congestion on the streets of North Jersey and sipping coffee. They talk family, marriage, kids, pets, and soccer.



Twice a week, New York Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas, assistant scout Carlo Acquista, and team administrator Juan Romero commute together from their homes in Long Island to the Red Bulls’ facility in northern New Jersey. The ride can take up to 90 minutes, though there is always time for a coffee stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts off Route 280 in New Jersey.



For Armas, this is a variation on an older tradition. Last year, after he became the top assistant on Jesse Marsch’s staff, the two men would get on the phone as they began their commutes, Armas from Long Island and Marsch from Princeton, N.J., and talk tactics and...