FRESNO, Calif. – Almost 20 years after arriving in the United States to become the goalkeeper for the Long Island Rough Riders, with stops as a player and coach in both the USL and Major League Soccer, the time had arrived for Sacramento Republic FC assistant coach Adam Smith.

“I know [Republic FC Head Coach Paul Buckle] had been saying to me for quite a long time, listen, you’re ready to make the jump now if that’s what you want to do,” said Smith this week. “It was what I wanted to do.”

As a result, it came to be that a little over a week ago Smith was on a dais at Chukchanski Park being introduced as the first Head Coach in Fresno FC’s history.

A championship-winner with both Long Island and Wilmington Hammerheads FC as a player, Smith has built a strong resume in the coaching ranks. Prior to joining Republic FC at its inception as an assistant to then-Head Coach Preki, Smith had previous stints at the Portland Timbers, including during the club’s transition from the USL to MLS, and under legendary Hammerheads Head Coach David Irving in Wilmington.

All those experiences came to the fore when he was approached initially by Fresno FC General Manager Frank Yallop about becoming the 2018 USL expansion team’s first Head Coach. That began a long process that also saw the club’s new MLS partners Vancouver Whitecaps FC involved extensively along the way.

“I met with Frank, we went out on a social basis, had dinner and talked football at length, he came up again and watched me coach and watched me work and the did some more research,” said Smith. “I then went to meet the owner in San Jose and spent a lot of time with him and then again with Frank that evening, and then I had a formal interview process up in Vancouver. I went and did a Power Point [presentation] to the President and Vice President up there in Vancouver and met with the Head Coach Carl Robinson. I got to see the staff there and watched in training, spent a full day.”

As far as he’d come in the interview process, there was still a sense of gratitude for Smith when the opportunity to take his first Head Coaching position was presented to him.

“I’m sure Frank had spoke with them and went through things and then called me up and asked if I would like the job,” Smith said. “I was extremely grateful and humbled and excited at the same time for the opportunity.”

Now the major work begins for Smith, Yallop and the rest of Fresno’s organization. The club has the major benefit of the success of the PDL’s Fresno Fuego to build on, with the city’s passionate fanbase now set to welcome professional soccer to Chukchansi Park.

As quickly as Republic FC found success, and the immediate success stories that have been seen in other recent arrivals to the USL such as Reno 1868 FC’s tremendous expansion season this past year, Smith wants to make sure that as the club drives for victories on the field, it also ensures long-term success as a club.

“I want to be successful, we’re in the game to win games and try and win trophies, that’s what it’s all about, but at the same time I truly believe we need to walk before we can run,” said Smith. “We don’t want to have an organization that gets too big, too quickly and can’t financially sustain itself, or can’t sustain itself on the field, and that negatively affects the fans in the stands. There’s a lot of work to be done, there’s a lot of backroom stuff to be done as well, and Frank has a huge job on his hands as well which I’m going to do everything to help him with as we all work together.”

Given the partnership Sacramento shared with both Portland and San Jose at its inception, and the hybrid partnership with the Earthquakes that helped 1868 FC succeed this year, Fresno’s ties to a strong MLS club in Whitecaps FC should help the side hit the ground running. While determinations as to which players will arrive in California from Vancouver are yet to be made, the top young players that could be available to Smith – some bringing youth international experience – will be a plus for both Fresno and the players themselves.

“[Whitecaps FC] can put players into an environment, take them out of their comfort zone, take them away from home and put them into an environment where they’ll sink or swim,” said Smith. “I personally think having the young players come into an environment like Fresno or Sacramento, where you’ve got the fans in the stands and the pressure to get three points every week, where it’s your livelihood and you live and die by that, I think that’s what can turn a young player into a proper professional and a proper man and give them a better chance of making the grade.”

In terms of making the grade, Smith certainly hopes to do so in Fresno. If he does, plenty of credit will go to Buckle, whom Smith said has facilitated the biggest opportunity for his growth as a coach since Buckle’s arrival in Sacramento midway through the 2015 USL season.

“Certainly, over the past two years with Paul, I think that’s been the biggest amount of growth for me personally,” said Smith. “There were a couple of occasions where he couldn’t take games, his wife had a baby for one, so I got to take that game, and then second time he was going to say goodbye because his father was passing away in England, so having that little taste of things, running things myself without the Head Coach there really got the juices flowing and made me realize this was the career path I wanted to take.

“Paul was very supportive, entrusted me with the team, gave me insight into what he has done as a coach to be successful with his track record in the U.K. and going to the playoffs and Wembley, so I’ve been very fortunate from that aspect.”

And while it might feel a little bit strange being back at Papa Murphy’s Park in the opposing dugout next year, Smith is certainly looking forward to the challenge of taking on his mentor, and hopefully returning on the 170-mile trip to Fresno with points.

“A job like this is very few and far between, and working with Frank and with a new organization where you’ve got the chance to rubber-stamp everything and set up a football culture the way you want to do it, so I had to jump at it,” said Smith. “It’ll be bittersweet going back there in some ways, it’s been a great three years, but I’ll be a Fresno guy and I’ll be wearing my Fresno blue and if you cut my arms my blood will be blue, it won’t be the maroon red of Sacramento anymore. That’s where my allegiances will be, and I’ll be going there to beat them.”