Major League Soccer coach in minor league stadium spotlight: One Knox SC has path to MLS

Though One Knoxville SC players outgrew their status as semi-pros − and the high school stadiums they played in − the club is still trying to outgrow the stereotype that organized soccer at this level doesn't have a permanent place in Knoxville.

At the center of those conversations and how to overcome the perception is head coach Ian Fuller, who believes now is the time for Knoxville take its passion for Tennessee Athletics and apply it to the city's new pro teams. He also sees Knoxville on a similar trajectory as Austin, Texas, home of the other UT.

"To a degree it's just been American football, American football, American football," Fuller told Knox News. "But that's changed a lot in the last decade or so."

Tennessee historically has been a football school through and through, and that's just the nature of the SEC. But all 20 Tennessee programs reached the NCAA postseason or a bowl game in 2023-24, with the Vols winning a baseball national title and reaching the Elite Eight in men’s basketball within the span of a year.

Is soccer really something Knoxville wants to buy into, though? If the first One Knox game at Covenant Health Park − with a record-setting sellout crowd of 6,378 − is any indicator, the answer might be closer to "yes" than you think.

From Major League Soccer to Maryville for One Knox coach Ian Fuller

One Knox, which returns home May 24 to face Indy Eleven at Covenant Health Park, is a young organization with rapid growth. Owner Drew McKenna made his first pitch for the team in 2019, echoing Fuller's belief that Knoxville is the kind of city that could support it.

After the club's first season, One Knox immediately jumped to the professional ranks, joining the League One division of the United Soccer League in 2022. But the jump was more like a step in the team's evolution, as Fuller believes the club is capable of climbing the USL ladder − perhaps, all the way to Major League Soccer.

This is the first season as head coach for Fuller, who moved to Maryville in January with his wife, Susannah Collins. Fuller hails from Ellensburg, Washington, and played soccer at Clemson University. In college, he helped lead the Tigers to two Atlantic Coast Conference championships in 1998 and 2001.

Selected in the 2002 MLS draft by the New England Revolution, Fuller spent a decade playing professional soccer and saw the varying ways different cities support the sport, as well as how different players respond to different styles of coaching.

There's almost a formula for what makes soccer and its players successful in America, said Fuller, who coached 12 years in the MLS (since 2016 with Minnesota United FC) before arriving in Knoxville.

Knoxville is the focus: Fuller embraces growing soccer in East Tennessee

Collins, Fuller's wife, also has her foot in the soccer world. Before moving earlier this year, she was a soccer commentator for CBS Sports in New York and was working for the broadcast team during Fuller's time as a player-coach with Orlando City SC.

Though 62,000 people were cheering as he stepped onto the field, it couldn't compare to the moment he shifted his eyes from the crowd to Collins for the first time.

One Knoxville SC head coach Ian Fuller, pictured at a pre-game block party April 26, left coaching in the MLS and opted for East Tennessee, where he enjoys a slower pace of life in Knoxville. "We sit on our wraparound porch. We sit out there every day and look at the Smokies," he told Knox News.

"That's probably the biggest, most important part of my life," he told Knox News.

The couple's passion for growing the sport of soccer is firmly rooted in Knoxville. They both shifted their careers, with Collins leaving the high-intensity broadcasting life in New York and Fuller leaving his assistant coaching job with Minnesota United for a simpler, slower pace of life in East Tennessee.

"We're enjoying every second of it. We sit on our wraparound porch. We sit out there every day and look at the Smokies," he said.

Fuller: One Knoxville players should be 'taking advantage of everything'

The club hung up its cleats at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville' soccer stadium, where players were guests in their own home, to join the Knoxville Smokies at Covenant Health Park this season. By the time the inaugural stadium season is over, the field would have been converted between a baseball diamond and soccer pitch nine times.

One Knox also launched a women's soccer team this year, with a roster defined by its Knoxville connections, from current Vols players to alumni of Knoxville high schools.

Fuller is no stranger to building up a soccer franchise. He helped start Orlando City FC, growing it into an MLS club and later moving north to help build up Minnesota United FC.

It takes a massive team, $100 million in the bank, a supportive community and a lot of hard work to prime cities for large soccer franchises., he said. Playing at the new downtown stadium is just the first step for One Knox.

Still, Fuller is more focused on the kind of players One Knox is producing. With a goal of leaving a lasting impact on the men who play for him, Fuller has always dreamed of becoming a head coach.

"First and foremost, I care the about guys. I care about them as men ... I love coaching now, wanting to get the best out of our guys," he said. "I don't want them to give up opportunities. I don't want them to wake up at 40 and their careers are over and realize they didn't take advantage of everything."

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Major League Soccer coach in minor league stadium spotlight: One Knox SC has path to MLS