The goalkeeper is expected to play and learn the ropes of coaching while with the Boys in Blue

Jon Busch has spent 19 years stopping shots. For his 20th season, the veteran goalkeeper is on the move once more. He’s heading to Indy Eleven, a short drive from Chicago, after spending 2015 with the Fire of MLS.

“This is a new beginning, a new chapter,” Busch told NASL.com. “You just look around the league and some of the players these teams are signing shows there are other options in U.S. soccer and not just MLS. I think this season is going to be really exciting for the fans because there are some absolutely amazing players that are signing for these teams. I think the level is going to be a very good level.”

Busch noted that he had “flirted with the NASL the last couple of years talking to different coaches and seeing what it’s about and it never was the right time.”

Conversations with Brad Ring and the Indy coaching staff and a rambunctious supporters group helped seal the move to Indy.

“When I started thinking about this I talked to Brad quite a bit about this, so I knew everything from how big their crowds were and fan base to the training facilities and everything about the club prior to really getting the conversation going with Tim Hankinson,” he said, referring to the Eleven’s new coach. "I’ve known Tim for a long time, since the Tampa Bay Mutiny days and that solidified it. We had a good conversation.”

He added: “I’ve heard about the crowds – Brickyard Battalion and all the fans that come out – and that was part of my decision. I wanted to go to a place with great crowd support, that has good atmosphere at games and they are known throughout the league and outside of the NASL for that.”

Not only will Busch once again take up the familiar position between the goalposts, but another factor in joining Indy was to have another role with the Boys in Blue: goalkeeper coach.

“The decision to coach has always been on my mind from the very beginning,” Busch said. “Guys like Scott Garlick and Pat Onstad were the ones who helped me when I first came into the USL 20 years ago. That’s kind of where it started from. I said to myself one day when I’m in a situation like that I want to give back to the young goalkeepers coming up.”

With eyes toward another side of the game, Busch was expecting to start learning the coaching ropes with the Chicago Fire, but after organizational changes and other issues, he is going ahead with his plans in the Circle City.

“When I was talking to Tim Hankinson and [assistant coach] Tim Regan about it, this was part of my decision when I’m done playing as a player I want to transition into being a full-time goalkeeper coach," he said. "This gives me the opportunity to learn the coaching side.”

Now, Busch will be in position to try to guide and coach players he will be competing for when it comes to minutes on the pitch.

“Coaching and competing is a unique situation, but I’m a player first,” he said. “My primary role is to play, and I’ve always kept high standards of myself day in, day out as a player. I have to do my job and my job is to be a consistent goalkeeper like I have for the last 19 years. If I’m not doing my job I don’t deserve to play whether I am a coach or not a coach. That is the bar I’m going to be held to – as a player and helping this team win.

“We have a good young ’keeper in Keith [Cardona] and I’m excited to work with him. I’ve heard he has a huge upside. I want to help him in any way I can to advance on the field and off the field.”

With Indy, Busch is one of the vastly experienced players that joined the team as the Eleven rebuilt in the offseason.

“You look at the players that Tim and Tim have signed and there is a lot of experience and that’s what I’m really excited about – I’m just a piece to the puzzle,” he said. “There are some very talented players they’ve added with a lot of experiences.

“I think that’s one of the things they’ve been missing and that’s one of the things they addressed in the offseason.”

Seeing it all in nearly 20 years in the game and having won two Supporters' Shields [for the best regular-season record in MLS, with Columbus in 2004 and San Jose in 2012] and a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup [with Columbus in 2002], the player, and now coach, is hoping to add more silverware to the collection.

“I think if we can stay healthy and put it together, we can make a run for this cup,” Busch said. “And that’s what it’s all about, having an opportunity to win a championship.”