Is Sacramento Republic rewriting the rules to team building? Here’s what they’ve done

You could see the togetherness, the grit, the willingness to throw their bodies in front of every shot — it was how Sacramento Republic booked a ticket to the U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday, beating Sporting Kansas City 5-4 on penalties after 120 minutes of scoreless deadlock at Heart Health Park. No egos or miscues, just a solid defensive game plan involving 11 men covering for each other in perfect harmony.

Except this sort of stuff is supposed to take time. Chemistry and trust normally do not lend themselves to shortcuts, but rather, more often than not, are rewards of continuity. So to see this Republic team, with its nine new starters this season, eliminate their third straight MLS opponent, the last of which fielded multiple players that won this competition five years ago, raises a few obvious questions.

Like, what’s their secret?

“It’s the mentality and togetherness of this group,” said head coach Mark Briggs after the game. “The culture within the locker room is what gets us through difficult moments.”

That sounds nice, but surely every serious team says that their culture is great. How did they get here?

“It’s a close-knit group that you can see on and off the field,” team president Todd Dunivant told The Bee in June. “They hold each other accountable, but they have a lot of fun together too, which is what you want to see. This is the sort of chemistry that you need.”

Again, could just be a bunch of buzzwords. But enough players corroborate their bosses’ accounts for it to seem viable.

“All 23 guys on the team hang out on and off the field every single day,” game hero Danny Vitiello said. After making big save after big save in the second half, including a crucial penalty save in the shootout, the crowd showered him with “MVP” chants. “We all have each other’s backs no matter who is on the field.”

The three center backs — Lee Desmond, Conor Donovan and Dan Casey — have been the engine to the team’s recent success, as evidenced by their 14 blocked shots on Wednesday. They also shared similar views as their goalkeeper and coach when The Bee asked them the same questions in June.

So what gives? Are Dunivant and Briggs gearing their recruitment toward humble guys that are required to be a great hang?

The answer lies somewhere in between yes and no, and probably has a lot to do with situation.

Take for example, the MLS with its status as the top-flight of American soccer, which comes with more money and star power, which leads to more egos to manage. Teams in the league have what are called designated player exceptions, which allow them to pay certain players more money without having it count against their team’s hard salary cap. (The rule was introduced in order to allow David Beckham to make more than all of his L.A. Galaxy teammates’ salaries combined in 2007.)

This isn’t to say that money corrupts team spirit or impedes success on the field. MLS teams have won every Open Cup since 1999, but rather, it could be viewed in this case as a factor working in Sacramento Republic’s favor this year.

Look at this way: In the USL, which the Republic competes in, a team is allowed to spend up to $1.88 million on its entire roster according to the latest collective bargaining agreement. Sporting Kansas City’s star striker Alan Pulido on the other hand, makes $2.2 million a year by himself.

To put it plainly, there are just less financial disparities within a USL squad. Financial parody across the team can help minimize jealousy and tension. But again, if money were the driving force behind success, then the cheapest teams would win every year (which does not happen).

So what else is left? Timing and opportunity.

Six of Sacramento’s starters Wednesday — Conor Donovan, Luis Felipe, Matt LaGrassa, Jack Gurr, Douglas Martinez and even club legend Rodrigo Lopez — are all players that flashed enough upside to play in MLS earlier in their careers, but for one reason or another, found themselves spit out and washed up on the shores of the lower-tier of American soccer.

Having them succeed on this team is like rehabilitating distressed assets that you acquired at a discounted price. Dunivant admitted as such on the “In Soccer We Trust” podcast last week when he said that the front office shifted its recruiting strategy to finding MLS castoffs that are just looking for the right opportunity to shine again.

In retrospect, this sort of team-building appears to add up. Republic’s better-than-average team chemistry is aided by the fact that their money is spread out relatively evenly across the roster. Even if that means that no one on the team is particularly wealthy by pro-athlete standards, at least they’ll be more likely to enjoy and do more of the same things together more often.

Then, there’s the underappreciated talent that just needs to be tapped into. Players with the ability and motivation to prove that they belong with those at the highest level.

Enjoy it while you can. Eventually, the economics of the game will come for those that succeed.

“It’s probably one of the best nights of my life minus my wedding,” Vitiello said. “After RoRo put that ball into the back of the net, I think about four guys kissing me on the forehead and I, in turn, kissing others. The emotion was unreal.

“It’s unbelievable what we’ve achieved in such a short time together.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 12:00 AM.