The change is subtle, all associated with the Riverhounds acknowledged at their major rebranding announcement Friday night at Highmark Stadium.
But it also has, if you ask me, plenty of the hometown in it.
The new official name of the franchise is Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Two letters were added to the end. That's it. And in keeping with our city's non-pretentious nature, nothing silly was attempted like, say, Real Salt Lake. And they didn't dare try the more common FC given that, you know, we've already got one of those.
The new official logo is similar in spirit:
USL
Like it?
Man, I sure do, and not just because it's a real, live soccer crest, one that mercifully buries forever the minor-league-in-every-way frothing dog. It comes with a classy, local feel. Like the city of Pittsburgh's original emblem, it's black and gold with a checkered pattern. It cleverly draws from the nearby Fort Pitt Bridge that towers above the stadium's backdrop. It's got a little river, even a little hound. And the smartest touch, I thought, was the 1999, a necessary reminder that this team's not exactly new around here, contrary to popular perception.
Overall, as team captain Kevin Kerr would tell me later, "It's a soccer crest."
There was more news, as well: All-new kits, designed by adidas and bearing the title sponsor Allegheny Health Network's logo across the front, were unveiled. All 17 road games will be televised locally by The CW, an only occasional occurrence in the past. And Highmark Stadium will be expanded from 3,400 seats to 5,000, meeting a United Soccer League requirement for all franchises for the 2018 season based on becoming the official second tier of U.S. Soccer.
The announcements, made in the stadium's suites area with several members of the old, beloved Pittsburgh Spirit on hand -- Paul Child, Dave MacKenzie and John Kowalski -- appeared to thrill the 300-plus supporters on hand, none more than the players modeling the kits. This was Kerr sandwiched between defender Joe Greenspan and striker Romeo Parkes:
Which, at least from this perspective, might have begged one question above all: Why shoot all the fireworks on one night?
"We're all just so excited. I'm so excited. And we wanted to share all of it with everyone right here," Tuffy Shallenberger, the Hounds' owner, was telling me after the announcement . "It's a really exciting time for us. This has been a long time coming. And it's been tough here at times. It has. It's been tough. But we believe in this city, in our support, in the local soccer community and ... some good things are coming, I'm telling you."
To be clear, the root of the excitement isn't the rebranding but rather the rebuilding of the team itself under new coach Bob Lilley, based on my cursory scan of the crowd. The fans, including the most vocal bulk of the Steel Army, cheered wildly with each player introduction, at all of the various unveilings and, maybe above all, at the video produced for the event:
Lilley's at the heart of it all. No bells, whistles or crests alter that. He's the most successful coach in recent USL history at Rochester, and there's reason people in this building are still amazed every day they see him here. He came available when the Rhinos hit bankruptcy this past fall, and Shallenberger aggressively pursued him. Once that was done, Lilley brought along longtime assistant Mark Pulisic, father of U.S. national sensation Christian Pulisic, and five of Rochester's starters from 2017. Those newcomers, combined with the theoretical best from the previous Hounds and other signings Lilley's made -- plus another significant one I've heard is on the horizon next week -- have raised hopes at an unprecedented level for a franchise that's never come close to a championship.
"No expectations or anything, right?" Lilley joked with the crowd after hearing some of this sort of thing through the night.
He can clearly deal with those. He's demonstrated that day and night at the stadium, seldom leaving his office or his cell phone while reaching out to agents worldwide in search of more talent. Even though his current roster is already miles ahead of the 2017 edition that finished 8-12-12 and 13th out of the Eastern Conference's 15 teams.
"We believe we're building something special, and we couldn't be in a better place to do it," Lilley said. "This city, this stadium, it's a great situation for us. People come here from all over the soccer world and marvel at what we've got here. All we've got to do is go out there and win."
That won't come as easily as some might hope. A legitimately great coach can assemble legitimately great talent for his level, and it's all still got to simmer in the same pot. Lilley's own Rochester team offered a powerful illustration in 2017, visibly maturing into what he'd call "a well-oiled machine" by their final trip to Highmark Stadium late in the season. Now, the challenge is more formidable in the sense that he's got to take two potentially fractious groups -- the Pittsburgh guys and the Rochester guys -- and have them connect in a sport that demands chemistry with every touch.
I asked Kerr about that and, of course, about that snazzy black kit he was sporting, which was by far my favorite:
Where does all this go?
That's always the question when it comes to soccer in Pittsburgh, with most wondering about some MLS future. Well, I can tell you that's not a focus around here. It was when Highmark Stadium was built, but it's much more immediate now. And that makes sense. If the USL brand can't succeed here, then plainly there's no cause to think MLS will. But if USL does, or the Hounds do, then all things are possible.
I asked Shallenberger for his vision, and it went no further than winning the opening match March 24 in Nashville:
Sounds about right. Win, pack the place, win some more, and worry about any other welcome repercussions as they come.
