Turn back the clock one week, and nobody expected Juan Guerra to step down as Phoenix Rising head coach. How quickly things change.
Now, the club is in the market for a replacement for its top job, just days away from players reporting for the start of preseason.
One name that pops up frequently on social media? Rising assistant coach Danny Stone, who has served on the staff under both Guerra and previous head coach Rick Schantz.
But would Stone be the right fit for the team going forward?
The right background?
Danny Stone first joined Phoenix Rising in 2021. He was part of a reshuffle of Rick Schantz’s backroom staff, after the departures of assistants Blair Gavin and Peter Ramage over the prior year.
Rising is the latest step for Stone in a near decade-long stint as a coach in professional football. After time in the organization working at academy level, Stone first debuted as a first team assistant with Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. There, he served under now-Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni, before later spending two years at USL club Oklahoma City Energy.
Prior to coaching, Stone played professionally in England. It may not have been the most illustrious, nor lengthiest, of careers, but he did ply his trade in the third tier with Notts County. There, he played over 1,000 minutes in the 2002-03 season.
Stone has also achieved U.S. Soccer’s A license as a coach, meaning that he already meets the requirements set by the Federation for head coaches of professional teams.
Beyond that, he’s someone with a deeper connection to the Valley than just his current employment. When Stone first moved out to the U.S. in his teenage years, he attended Corona del Sol High School in Tempe.
a continuity candidate
No two coaches are ever the same, and that holds true even within the same staff.
As an example, Juan Guerra served as an assistant for Rick Schantz, but his playing style focused more heavily on maintaining possession than his predecessor.
That doesn’t mean that Danny Stone couldn’t prove the perfect continuity candidate in the current circumstances.
Deep into the offseason, Phoenix has already built the majority of a squad for 2024. It’s a squad deeply aligned with the vision that Guerra had for the club. It’s a squad, too, that was largely sold on that vision, and sold on Guerra himself as a head coach.
It’d be unfair to expect Stone to simply carry on with what Guerra had already planned. But he would be best placed to build on top of Guerra’s vision for the team, rather than starting again from square one.
A coach already liked by the players
A key characteristic of Juan Guerra’s spell in charge of Phoenix Rising was a focus on man management.
In his parting statement, Guerra said that “Being able to unify the coaching staff, the players and the front office under one culture and one goal was remarkable to see. That is what I want people to remember about my time here.”
The ability to bring together a group of players to form what he would describe as a “family” is not always an easy task, especially as adversity sets in. It takes a coach that is ultimately respected by their players, and one liked by them as well.
Multiple sources have pointed to Danny Stone as a coach that is well liked by those who play for him. Even during the more turbulent days at the end of the Rick Schantz reign, Stone was respected as a member of the coaching staff.
That’s something that could prove critical, especially given the circumstances around Guerra’s departure. Much like this move has been a surprise to us on the outside looking in, it came as a shock to the playing staff as well.
There’s always a risk that players feel unsettled by a coaching change at this stage of the offseason. There’s a risk as well that some players could want to leave, as promises given to them in exchange for their signature may no longer stand.
Bringing in a figure that already proves popular with the returning core of this Rising squad could go some way to helping the team stick together in this particularly challenging moment.
Would Danny Stone be the right fit?
This is a discussion that nobody expected to be having in January 2024, but it’s where Phoenix Rising finds itself.
Danny Stone is an experienced assistant coach, with a playing background and a link to the local area. He’s a coach that could build on Guerra’s legacy at the club, and is someone that’s well liked and respected among those he’s coached here.
Multiple people who’ve worked alongside him in the past have tipped him as worthy of a shot at the top job.
Clubs build culture over time, and we’ve seen Rising look to those with history at the team in its last two managerial appointments.
You only have to look at the golden era of Stone’s hometown club of Liverpool to see the impact that continuity can have in culture building. After Bill Shankly set the foundations, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish all spent time coaching or playing under their immediate predecessor. League, cup and European success followed in abundance.
Rising has that opportunity to keep building on the culture established by Juan Guerra, and keep building on the success that both he and Rick Schantz brought to the club since its rebrand from the days of Arizona United.
Plus, think of the statement it sends to pass over him at this time, under these circumstances. If not now, when could Stone ever expect a shot at the top job in Phoenix? Could you then blame him if he wanted to pursue pastures new?
It may be understandable to look for a coach with a more extensive track record in the leading role. It may be understandable, too, to want to follow one title-winning head coach with another who has already achieved the same.
But Phoenix Rising could do far, far worse than look to Danny Stone to become its newest head coach.
