Alan Koch's first day on the job as head coach of Futbol Club Cincinnati was inauspicious.

The best thing you might say about it was that he wasn't stuck with an "interim head coach" designation, and in his profession, that's not necessarily a ringing endorsement.

It was sunny and unseasonably warm when FC Cincinnati's players gathered on Feb. 17, 2017, in the team lounge at Nippert Stadium. They were briefed on the unexpected dismissal of head coach John Harkes, and learned that Koch would take his place.

"It was a bit of a shock. We didn't really see it coming," FC Cincinnati midfielder Jimmy McLaughlin recalled of the day's events. "I remember it pretty vividly."

Koch briefly addressed his new team that evening, but he's foggy on the rest.

"I remember absolutely nothing," Koch recalled to The Enquirer. "It's one of those moments where you just have to react."

The next day, Koch was on a plane bound for Florida with his players. There, less than 24 hours after assuming control of the team, FC Cincinnati commenced its preseason under a cloud of uncertainty.

"You never want to get a job in those circumstances," Koch said. "That’s not a fun way to get something, but it is what it is and we’ve moved on and embraced the challenge for close to two years now. It’s had it’s up and downs of course."

Fast forward almost two years. One could easily make the case that Koch assuming control of FC Cincinnati's head coaching position was arguably one of the best things that ever happened to the club

FC Cincinnati's gone 41-14-21 in all competitions under Koch. He presided over a Cinderella run to the 2017 U.S. Open Cup semifinal – a campaign that garnered international attention – and he lifted the USL's regular-season championship trophy this season.

Koch also received a contract extension in each of the last two seasons, and he's kept his current staff intact going into his third season in the Queen City.

From his ominous start as FC Cincinnati's manager, Koch has emerged as a conquering hero. Fans that once called for Koch's ouster now sing his praises after two seasons of defying punditry and surpassing expectations.

And Koch is far from finished.

He's guiding the vision for the club and leading the build-out of the technical side as FC Cincinnati transitions into Major League Soccer from the second-division United Soccer League.

Koch's designs for the club are multi-faceted, and he's been building since taking over, installing a style and the manpower to make it all go.

The plan, or "the process" as he's referred to it in the past, is far from finished, even as his second year in charge begins to wind down.

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By the start of the MLS season, Koch will have gone from coaching NCAA Division II soccer power Simon Fraser University in 2015 to the head coach and principal architect of FC Cincinnati's inaugural MLS season.

In less than four years, and with a stop at the Vancouver Whitecaps organization along the way, Koch will have arrived at the highest level of North American soccer.

Such a trajectory is rarely seen in any sport, but those who know Koch aren't surprised where he is.

His former Simon Fraser assistant Clint Schneider is one of the unsurprised.

Schneider said Koch's success – the reasons he's likely to continue being successful – start with the fact that he's "extremely detail oriented and he wants to have his hands on everything."

"He demands excellence and he doesn’t do shortcuts," Schneider said. "If Alan had to do everything by himself, he would do it because he will not settle for anything when it comes to football. He’s the hardest worker I’ve been around, easily. He never turns off the football."

Schneider knows the full extent to which Koch demands excellence from those around him.

Earlier this century, back when Schneider and Koch first joined forces on the Baker University (NAIA) staff, Schneider was almost terminated by Koch for misreading the match schedule and missing games on a recruiting trip.

Schneider was a young assistant in the game and mere months into his time alongside Koch.

"Alan said if I ever did that again I'd be fired," Schneider said. "It's not a fun story for me, but he's just demanding. Alan's a fun guy, don't get me wrong, but when you're working with him he demands the very best out of you. He made me better as a coach, for sure."

Koch doesn't rule with an iron fist, though. Far from it.

There's a certain humanity Koch brings to seemingly every interaction that makes people want to perform for him. Schneider described it as "you feel better and energized every single time you come away from talking to Alan."

Koch's wife, Amy Koch, credited the coach's human touch to his upbringing.

"He was raised in a very open and supportive family in South Africa. He also continually challenges himself to further his academic and coaching education," Amy Koch said. "He has learned from successes and failures and I feel that has kept him humble, kind and down to earth."

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The preparation for next season has been humming behind the scenes, but it's about to accelerate.

Win or lose, the day after the FC Cincinnati era in USL ends, Koch said he'll probably get on a plane – destination undisclosed – to watch and possibly sign prospects.

He's put off several such trips already during the current USL season, but there won't be any time wasted once the offseason begins.

Despite a growing network of scouts to aid him in his pursuit of top talent, Koch will have his hands on as much of the formation of his team as possible.

"Some players, I need to make a final decision on and some that we need to make some very, very expeditious decisions on, so the second the playoffs end," Koch said, "pretty soon I’ll be on a plane going somewhere in the world and I won’t come back until I get the job done."

Koch and FC Cincinnati Technical Director Luke Sassano have previously discussed the construction of the MLS team in broad terms, but Koch has been more precise in articulating his vision recently.

Cincinnati was the top-spending club in USL this season. That won't be the case in MLS, Koch said.

He indicated the club could be far from the top spenders in the league. He insists that, according to his plan for smart players signings and acquisitions, that fact won't preclude his team from being competitive upon arrival in MLS.

"We’re building a team from scratch and every other team isn’t building a team from scratch. When you come into the league, you don’t have any assets at your disposal, so you have to go spend money to get those assets," Koch said. "We’re doing this on a very fiscally sound, responsible budget moving into MLS. It might not be what people expect it to be and it's going to be a major challenge to get the players that we need to get, but we’re used to being fiscally responsible and squeezing everything we can out of every single player. We have to get it right with every single player because we hope to build something special, but it's going to take time.

"This is not like building a team in USL where you can spend a little bit of money and have success. This is a league of established teams with established assets that are worth a lot of money. So, for us to go buy a player, trade a player – that costs a lot more than just a salary. We're excited and we're embracing the challenge."

To be sure, MLS will be a different experience for FC Cincinnati supporters. Flashy and rich and loaded with talent in USL might soon translate to spunky and thrifty at the next level, but Koch has earned trust through on-field performance to try that approach.

His plans have unfurled correctly and smoothly at each stop in his ascendancy to MLS, so why would you doubt him now?

Some still do doubt him, but Koch is used to proving those people wrong.

"I don't have to prove anything to anybody. I think if you look at my coaching record, I've had success everywhere I've been," Koch said. "If I’m not winning, I don’t want to do this job. That’s it. I’ve won in the college game. I won with the smallest budget and the youngest team in the USL (in 2016) with Whitecaps 2. I come here and I took a second-tier team to the U.S. Open Cup semifinal. We’ve won the league this year. Now, we want to keep winning.

"There's a lot of satisfaction with what we've built in Cincinnati. There was a lot of satisfaction giving this city a trophy. I think that was huge. We hope to give the city more trophies, too."