Ray Reid – a legend of collegiate coaching – is helping improve the profile of Championship side Hartford Athletic as technical director ahead of a date with MLS’ New England Revolution.
He's been through only one cycle of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup before the current campaign. But Ray Reid understands what that storied competition is all about and just how much is on the line.
He has been there and done it before as a successful head coach in the NCAA soccer tournament.
As coach of two successful men's college teams over three decades, the Hartford Athletic technical director had to meander through many a postseason competition -- all stocked with talented teams, trapdoors and surprises around every corner.
"I think they're similar," Reid said. "They're similar that on any given day, anybody can win. We played great teams at UConn that weren't as good as we were but, on the day, were better off and fortunate.
“I think that's the same thing with the Open Cup. I mean, with all due respect, Sacramento [the USL Championship side who reached last year’s Open Cup Final] has done a fantastic job,” he said. “But if you listed every team in the Cup, they wouldn't be the second-best team. Yet in that competition, what they've done is unbelievable. They almost won it.
“So, the knockout competition, in some ways, is very similar to the NCAA tournament,” Reid added. “If you don't have your right game, on the right day, you go home."