How do we explain the unpredictable results from USL Kickoff weekend?

Most week one results were surprises based on the consensus preseason picks

USL Kickoff weekend is in the book, and while two of the big dogs in the league, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Louisville City didn’t play, the others all seemed to have varying degrees of struggles. Coaching changes, some of them late in the offseason (why so many USL Head Coaches leave to take MLS Assistants jobs is a subject I’d like to probe in the future)

Every team I picked in the top five in the Western Conference failed to win its opening match and in the east the big stories were Loudoun United and Miami FC, two clubs picked universally to be at the bottom of the conference.

My colleague Johnathan Starling has some very clear thoughts on why we had so many surprises in week one of the USL Championship season.

From my perspective, as someone who has spent more than 15 years around lower division soccer in the United States, I’ve learned the culture and platform of individual clubs matters more than the names on the roster. Particularly in this era where USL clubs often spend lots of money on players, but often they are guys recycled within the league. Culture, scouting, coaching and club atmosphere matters more in this league than in many others.