COLORADO SPRING, Colo. – The climb facing Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and new Head Coach Alan Koch to return the club to the heady days of the top-three finishes the club achieved in its first two seasons might resemble 14,115-foot Pikes Peak that lies just to the west of the city, but it’s one the 44-year-old is ready to take on as he jumps back into the Championship’s coaching ranks.

“It’s a very big project,” Koch told the Province’s J.J. Adams recently. “The table doesn’t lie. And now we have to go in and make some adjustments to player personnel, team structure and make sure we get everything right so we can head forward in a positive direction.”

After finishing bottom of the Western Conference in the 2019 Championship season, there is of course nowhere to go but up from here for the Switchbacks, but there should be reason for optimism as the club enters the new decade.

For one, the arrival of Koch – who led both Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 to the Western Conference Final of the 2016 USL Championship Playoffs and then FC Cincinnati to the league’s regular season title in 2018 – looks set to bring a new vigor to the side. You only needed to look at the final game of the Switchbacks’ regular season to see some green shoots of hope as they rallied to earn a 2-2 draw against San Antonio FC despite being down to 10 men – eliminating SAFC from playoff contention in the process – to see an energy reminiscent of Koch’s previous stops.