The integration of USL League One – which contains its own share of experience and recognizable names like former U.S. Men’s National Team Captain John Harkes, Tim Hankinson, and Daryl Shore on its sidelines as it enters its inaugural season next month – is also providing a potential ladder for new faces to make their impact.

After the work done last season by Rick Schantz in leading Phoenix Rising FC to the Western Conference Championship and first-time head coach Braeden Cloutier bringing success to Orange County SC, there are also now new faces dotted around the league looking to make a similar immediate impact. New Mexico United’s Troy Lesesne, El Paso Locomotive FC’s Mark Lowry, and the well-known names of Eric Wynalda (Las Vegas Lights FC), Jimmy Nielsen (Hartford Athletic) and Richie Williams (Loudoun United FC) all have the potential to burnish their reputations in the Championship.

As arguably the most successful coach in the USL Championship’s history, Anhaeuser believes someone like Lesesne – who both played for him and served as an assistant coach in Charleston – can follow a path in coaching that Battery alumni like Ozzie Alonso, Lamar Neagle, Forrest Lasso and Dane Kelly have achieved on the field since their time with the Battery.

“You’re always excited for anyone you’ve worked with,” said Anhaeuser. “You’ve hopefully mentored him, and he’s such a great guy whose done things the right way and has worked his tail off to get to where he is, you want him to have success. It’s like a player moving on. If I have a player move to MLS, you want him to do well, because if he does well that might show a little bit from something you’ve had a hand in, and I wish Troy all the success.”

As the quality of players joining the league increases, the influx of talented coaches like those mentioned above could be the escalator that provides the next major rise in performance for Championship sides. Eight of this year’s Head Coaches in the league have already completed their U.S. Soccer Pro Licenses, with another four selected to be part of the 12-month course this year. While Cooke believes earning his Pro License shouldn’t be considered a be-all and end-all, he looks at the experience as one that embodies the example he tries to set while looking to bring the best from his players.

“I think this is a really critical point; if you are a coach at any level and you are asking players to improve themselves to work hard and keep getting better and to develop, and to be the best that they could possibly can be, I believe also that the coach should model that behavior by doing it for themselves and in their career,” said Cooke. “I personally don’t believe that the credentials by themselves have given me the opportunities, but what I do believe is the willingness to go and work, and learn and be vulnerable, and be open to learning and improving and developing my craft, I believe that is key to the success long-term, because the game forever evolves. The players evolve all the time, they get better and better, and I think as a coach you want to be in the game for a long time, and if you want to keep developing the club, if you want to keep developing the players, then you too will try and develop yourself.”