Matt Poland Out at FC Naples
FC Naples announced today the departure of Head Coach and Sporting Director Matt Poland amidst a club-worst six match losing streak.
Poland joined FC Naples as its first ever manager ahead of its inaugural 2025 season, building a roster that ended its first season at 4th in the table, and earning a first-round home playoff match in which they defeated defending champions Union Omaha. The club would go on to lose in the next round to eventual champions One Knoxville. Poland was also nominated for league Coach of the Year.
The club also announced the appointment of First Assistant Coach Zak Gordon as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season. Gordon also joined the organization in ahead of the 2025 season.
Poland joined from Midwest Premier League club Chicago House AC, bringing along goalkeeper coach Tony Halterman.
There, Poland saw multiple achievements to raise his profile, including a record of 23-7-8, and qualification for back-to-back Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearances.
In the 2023 edition of the tournament, the Poland-led squad made a shocking run to the third round, knocking out USL League One side Forward Madison, before losing to MLS's Chicago Fire. They were one of only nine amateur squads in the history of the tournament to face an MLS opponent.
Additionally, 16 of Poland's Chicago House players and staff would go on to sign professional contracts.
Gordon joined from Oakland Roots in USL Championship where he was a first-team assistant and head coach of the club's USL League Two squad Project 510. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Monterey Bay, and a Technical Director for Albion SC's MLS Next sides.
“Zak Gordon has been on the field with FC Naples’ First Team since our first season, helping the team achieve its historic 2025 USL League One campaign," said club CEO Robert Moreno in the club's news release, "we’re confident in his leadership as the team moves forward.”
Poland is the second coach to move on from a USL League One club in the middle of the 2026 season, as Richmond parted ways with Darren Sawatzky on June 15th. In that case, 2027 expansion club Sporting Cascades bought out Sawatzky's contract amidst similar performance struggles in Richmond.
What it Means for FC Naples
The club is currently in its worst form in its two-season history, having lost six straight and nine of its last ten in regular season play. Buoyed by a strong start, the club remained in the top eight of the table until recently dropping to 13th place with a 5-10-2 record.
While the offense has struggled, defense has been an even more glaring issue, with 27 goals conceded, third worst in the league.
The last outing was a 1-0 loss to the last-place New York Cosmos, a club that itself had not seen a win since March.
Gordon will take over a roster full of potential, but vastly underperforming so far in the 2026 season after the off-season loss of Golden Boot runner up Karsen Henderlong to a transfer. The offense is now led by right-winger Chris Garcia with four goals and three assists, but Poland struggled to develop and maintain a steady presence at striker through the first half of the season.
Options among those who have seen starts up top this season include William Arevalo, who has a recent breakout despite the overall team struggles with three goals in the last seven matches; Andrés Ferrín, traditionally a winger, but has recently seen three starts up front; Gio Miglietti, traditionally a striker but used all over the pitch by Poland, including at centre back; attacking midfielder Aiden Mesias; and rookie Dominick Bachstein, who has yet to find the scoresheet again after getting off to a hot start with two goals in his first two appearances.
With a clear offensive identity problem, the club recently signed free-agent midfielder Omar Ciss, a former two-time Young Player of the Year nominee while with Charlotte Independence. Ciss has a pair of appearances off the bench since signing, but we've yet to see him used to his full potential.
One thing is for sure, Gordon will need to figure out a way to get more production from his squad.
Defensive woes have partially sprung from a shift to a more possession based style, flipped from last year's campaign. While it hasn't led to offensive production, it's also resulted in an increased number of instances where the team is caught in transition, and gives up fast break goals.
And as Backheeled's John Morrissey pointed out recently, the defense is struggling with defending set pieces, tied for the most set piece goals given up at seven. The inconsistency may be driven by a fluid backline, in which Poland had been experimenting with multiple pairings and setups over the last few months.
With frustration among the players clearly mounting as the losses piled up, it seems the coaching change was overdue.
What's Next for Naples?
The club will try to regroup under the leadership of Gordon with a throwaway USL Cup match at Tampa Bay on Saturday, followed by a return to league play on July 25th at Forward Madison.
