Revolution’s Heaps Set to Battle His Greatest Influence
LOS ANGELES – Revolution coach Jay Heaps has consulted with the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Bruce Arena on many subjects. But Heaps has never brought up the topic of their first meetings.
On Oct. 22, 1995, Heaps was a freshman striker for Duke playing against Arena’s No. 1-ranked University of Virginia. The Cavaliers were an NCAA powerhouse in soccer, Arena setting coaching standards for the college game, as he would in MLS. And Virginia had a 3-1 lead with a minute and a half remaining in overtime. Then, Heaps sprinted through the defense to cut the deficit to 3-2, and with five seconds on the clock headed in the tying score.
But that would not be the last time Heaps would upset Arena that season.
“College Cup, we won, 3-2, I scored the opening goal and had two assists,’’ Heaps recalled. “I’ve never talked to him about it. I remember it because they were going for their (sixth) championship and they were heavy favorites over us. We were the Duke Blue Devils, out of nowhere, we were a rough, tough-type team and we beat them that day in Richmond.’’
That would be Arena’s final game as a college coach; he would go on to lead D.C. United to the first MLS Cup championship the next year, win another in 1997, and after a stint with the US national team, two more with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Arena is going for his fifth MLS Cup title and Heaps will be standing in the way – this time as coach of the Revolution in Sunday’s game at the StubHub Center.
Competing against Arena and playing for him on the US national team planted the seeds for Heaps to pursue a coaching career.
“Bruce coached me when I was with the national team, so I had ton of respect for what he was doing,’’ Heaps said after Revolution training on Friday. “I didn’t play in any games but I was out here for four weeks for a residency and I was around the team probably five times when he was coaching. So, I got to see his coaching philosophy, which is unbelievable, which was really progressive (compared with) coaches I’d played for at the time.
“Even this season, I’ve had a few conversations with Bruce when we were going through our tough stretch of, ‘what would you be saying to the guys?’ What do you think of a situation like this?’ I’ve talked to him on the phone a few different times – not so much small details but more big picture, man management, and he couldn’t be better at that.’’
After the Galaxy hammered the Revolution, 5-1 on July 16 in L.A., Heaps sought out Arena.
“He was more than willing to spend 10 minutes with me,’’ Heaps said.
The Revolution were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak when they lost to the Galaxy. Three days later, Heaps inserted Charlie Davies into the starting lineup, but the skid would not end until July 30. Since then, the Revolution have been the hottest team in the league – they are 12-1-3 since Aug. 2.
“Because of the strong character and work ethic Jay has they were able to overcome that slump in the middle of the season go on to the MLS Championship game,’’ Arena said. “Their team has taken on a lot of Jay’s characteristics: hard-working, dedicated and Jay puts everything into it every day.
“We had nice conversation after the game here. He’s a really eager professional. He’s done an outstanding job, he’s got a great mentality and attitude about going to work every day and getting the job done. It’s not surprising when you take that kind of approach that you’re able to lift your team in difficult times.’’
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Heaps’ rise has been impressive, especially considering he wasn’t even considered a coaching candidate three years ago. Heaps had no coaching experience and was fast-tracking a career as a personal wealth manager at Morgan Stanley in Manhattan. But on Nov. 14, 2011, he was named to replace Steve Nicol, who had coached the Revolution for 10 years, but had lost his winning touch as the team slumped to one of its worst records ever.
Heaps played for the Revolution from 2000-09, his 243 appearances third on the all-time team list and his 28 playoff starts a team record. He was also the team’s player representative to the MLS Players’ Union and spent the 2010 season as a color commentator for Revolution games. Heaps had prepared for life after soccer, successfully entering the financial world. But he had been hedging his bets – the television work helping him study the league, good prep work for a coaching career.
But there did not seem much chance of the Revolution firing Nicol, who had guided the team to four MLS Cup finals. And, though the Revolution had lost many top players, Nicol was resourceful enough to keep them in contention.
If Heaps were to get into coaching, he thought he might have to uproot his family to take an assistant job far from Massachusetts. That was not what a Nashua, N.H., native raised in Longmeadow wanted. But when the Revolution position opened, Heaps went for it.
And it wasn’t the first time Heaps accomplished something in an unconventional manner. When Heaps went for the Revolution job interview with Jonathan and Robert Kraft, he drew on an experience of his father, John, who was a standout hockey player growing up in Springfield.
Before the 1965-66 season, John Heaps attended tryouts for the Cathedral High School hockey team. The next day, coach Guy LaMarche posted a list of the players who made the team.
“I wasn’t on it,’’ John Heaps recalled recently. “So, I called the coach and told him he had made a mistake.’’
LaMarche, a legendary figure in the area, gave John Heaps another chance. And Heaps became a first line forward as Cathedral won the Western Mass. title.
“It’s a lesson that I’ve carried through my life,’’ said John Heaps, now a bank president in Western Massachusetts.
Jay Heaps was in a similar situation at Duke. After the soccer season, Jay decided to try his hand at basketball. He knew coach Mike Krzyzewski was looking for practice players, so he started working out with the women’s team. Heaps was selected for the varsity team and played in 30 games, cutting short his senior season, when he was the No. 2 pick in the MLS draft.
“I did learn from that,’’ Jay Heaps said of his father’s ice hockey experience. “I had a similar story making the Duke basketball team, in terms of wanting something and doing whatever you can to get there.
“I think the story for me is my dad knew he was good enough and so there’s a quiet confidence in that. And so, I think when a lot of people were shaking their head at what the Krafts were doing when they hired me three years ago, I think I had a quiet confidence And I knew that if given the opportunity and I was able to work with (general manager) Michael Burns and (Revolution president) Brian Bilello I could do certain things to help this team get better. They took a chance on hiring me, they looked past the resume.’’
Three years and three weeks later, Heaps has taken the Revolution to their fifth MLS Cup final., upsetting strong odds to get this far. Once again, Heaps is drawing motivation from the past – he was a starting right back on losing Revolution teams in the 2002, ’05, ’06, and ’07 MLS Cups – and he wants to prove his employers made the right choice.
Asked about why he wanted the Revolution coaching job, Heaps replied:
“I had a real loyalty to this organization. Having played in four finals and not won, something was missing. That was a driving force.
“It wasn’t easy. Day 1, (assistant coach) Remi Roy and I rolled our sleeves up in November 2011 and we really wanted to build something championship-worthy, get back to where the club was in ’05-07. A lot of sleepless nights and hard work, so there’s a reward in getting there. But for us the ultimate is getting that ring. For me, that’s what this is all about. The Kraft Family, me as a soccer player, now as a coach, getting them the due ring. They deserve it.’’
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