Looking back, one constant that underlined the Colorado Springs Switchbacks’ championship season was confidence from staff, players and even fans. 

Before the season, the club elevated Stephen Hogan from head coach to the franchise’s first-ever sporting director. 

When the Switchbacks began the season with a franchise-worst 0-5 start, Hogan was surprised.  

“I was very surprised. Very, very surprised because in the preseason we did quite well,” he said following a Switchbacks win on June 29. “I was never thinking like this is going to be the worst year in the club’s history. I think I (had an interview) when we tied the game against Indy (Eleven) and I said, ‘Once we get two wins, once we get two back-to-back, we’ll get momentum.’ And we did. We got two back-to-back and we started.” 

Switchbacks to host celebration party at Weidner Field following first-ever USL Championship title win

That confidence grew as the season wore on and club fully committed to a team-first mentality in the way it approached training sessions and personnel. 

Colorado Springs goalkeeper Christian Herrera noted before a September match against Charleston Battery that this year’s team had a chemistry that felt more sustainable than in previous seasons.

“I know it may look similar (to last season) but I will say it’s completely different,” he said. “The group’s just a lot more together. It’s a team mentality. We go game to game, learning, people raise their hands saying, ‘I could have done better there, I could have done better in this moment.’  I think yeah we’re hot right now but it’s a different feeling than it was last year. It feels like it could last longer.”

That same week, midfielder Steven Echevarria mentioned having the right people in the building was key to the club’s success. A few weeks prior to his comments, the Switchbacks’ made a stunning move in August, transferring forward Maalique Foster to Indy Eleven. At the time, Foster was a key cog in the Switchbacks’ lineup as the team’s assist leader and second-leading scorer. In a statement coinciding with Foster’s transfer, both Hogan and head coach James Chambers emphasized the club’s team-first mantra.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks rout Rhode Island FC, complete miracle 10th season by winning first-ever title

Following a Switchbacks win over Charleston Battery on Sept. 14, Echevarria was more blunt.  

“Throughout the years I’ve been here since this staff took over, we’ve not had a group that’s as together as this one is. We’ve gotten all the people out of the building that don’t need to be in the building and we have a group of guys that are fighting for each other,” he said. “We want a home playoff game and we want (to) show this city that Colorado Springs is a soccer city.”

The Switchbacks made good on Echevarria’s aspirations, claiming their first-ever USL Championship on Saturday, beating Rhode Island FC 3-0 at Weidner Field. 

For Switchbacks super fan Annie Coffman, there were no doubts heading into the league final. Watching her team hoist a USL Championship trophy wasn’t a matter of if but when. 

Coffman had the same confidence the players have had since the club’s first win of the season on April 27 at Oakland Roots SC. In truth, it’s the same confidence she approaches every Switchbacks season with. 

“I traveled out to Oakland. I was going to every game win or lose and it was just fantastic to see them get a win and turn it around at that point. And I had total (confidence) in them the whole time, from the beginning that they could do this. I saw the talent there,” she said. 

“It’s never to me (been) crappy because I back them 100% But they have faltered in places and they have lacked a certain direction but this time they put it all together. The coaching staff has been fabulous and has really put this team together and then Matt (Mahoney’s) direction as the captain. Each of them playing for each other, not playing for the glory of one, playing for the glory of the team has made the difference.”