New Phoenix Rising coach Danny Stone looks to build off team’s title ahead of new season

Facing the media for the first time since being appointed head coach of Phoenix Rising FC, Danny Stone smiled when asked about his childhood memories of the city.

“It’s funny sometimes how life takes you in those circles,” Stone said. “I actually now am back living in an area that’s about five minutes from where I went to school.”

Originally from Liverpool, England, Stone’s family briefly moved to Tempe in 1997, where a 15-year-old Stone attended Corona del Sol High School for roughly a year and a half. After heading back to his homeland, he returned to Arizona nearly 25 years later, in 2021, to serve as an assistant for Rising FC. Three weeks ago, he was officially promoted to head coach.

Stone replaced Juan Guerra, who took an assistant position at MLS team Houston Dynamo following Rising FC’s first-ever USL Championship triumph in 2023. With the team now playing the role of defending champions for the first time, Stone said he is excited for the challenge and eager to maintain the club’s momentum.

“I plan for this to be certainly a continuation of what was already an excellent foundation, an excellent process that was in place,” Stone said. “We take everything that was excellent for us last season in terms of the work, and we will continue to improve that because what we did last year was not perfect. Although we achieved a lot at the end of the season, we all recognize areas where we would love to improve, and we’ll continue to build on top of that.”

Rising FC took just 10 days to announce Stone’s appointment following Guerra’s departure. Though it will be the first head coaching gig for the 41-year-old, it’s the culmination of already nearly two decades of work.

A former player in his native England for Notts County FC and Blackburn Rovers FC, Stone retired from playing at a young age due to injuries, setting him up for his current career.

“As a player I finished playing sooner than I would have chosen to, but obviously on the flip side of that, it moved me into a coaching profession at an earlier point,” Stone said. “So as a relatively young coach in years, I’ve got a lot of experience and background in coaching.”

After his brief stay in Tempe in the late 1990s, Stone returned to the U.S. in 2006 when he took on a coaching role in Las Vegas. Since then, he has made his way across the various levels of American soccer with stops in Colorado and Oklahoma before eventually returning to Arizona three years ago.

Stone described his path as a “condensed crash course” that taught him to coach across all age groups and genders. That skillset has already been put to good use on the Rising training ground, as new signing JP Scearce, originally recruited by Guerra, said he was quickly impressed by his new coach.

“I really enjoy him being the head coach and I think most of the guys were happy that the club made him the head coach,” Scearce said. “Something I really like about him is the way he gives his message. It’s very clear, whether it be tactically or whatever the case. It’s easy to understand for us players, so that’s something that stood out for me.”

In addition to his coaching skills, Stone said his international background has also been an asset when connecting with players. With a roster featuring significantly more foreign players than Americans, understanding what it’s like to move to a new country and new culture has helped him relate to their experiences.

Venezuelan midfielder Renzo Zambrano said he was pleased with the decision to go with Stone because of those connections and the continuity he brings.

“It’s the same for the team, because we know who he is,” Zambrano said. “Danny knows the players and how we play in the field, so I am very happy for him.”

Stone will have help connecting with the team’s sizable Spanish-speaking contingent through the addition of assistant coach Diego Gómez, who joined the group Monday. Gómez is likely the final offseason addition to the club as Stone said he did not expect any more roster changes, though he said he could not entirely rule things out either.

With one month left before the season opener, Stone said he is pleased with the original response to his appointment from staff and players alike. He now hopes fans will show similar support as Rising FC seek to defend their crown.

“We’ll ask a lot of the fans to help back us, like they always have done,” Stone said. “So, we’ll pull everything together and we’ll have a one-club mentality. We’ll compete together and we’ll fight together, and I can’t wait to do it.”

Rising FC will host Las Vegas Lights FC and Los Angeles Galaxy II on Feb. 24 and March 1, respectively, to round off the preseason. The team will kick off its title defense on March 9 at home against Birmingham Legion FC.

Timothy Belin is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Phoenix Rising coach looks to build off team’s title in new season