Mark Briggs named Legion Head Coach
A new era begins
Image credit: Birmingham Legion
After a brief search, Birmingham Legion have come to terms with 43 year-old Mark Briggs as their new Head Coach. Briggs comes in after a four year stint at Sacramento Republic, where he guided the team to an appearance in the USL Championship western conference finals, and to the finals of the 2022 US Open Cup. While he is best known as the head coach at Sacramento, he also has an extensive background in player development. For anyone that hasn't followed his career closely, his soccer credentials follow.
Player Development Resume
Image credit: Wilmington Hammerheads
Briggs was born and raised in England, his 15-year playing career beginning with West Bromwich Albion, and ending with the Wilmington Hammerheads in 2013. He rejoined that club as an assistant coach in 2015 under Carson Porter and was then elevated to Head Coach for the 2016 season. His tenure with the Hammerheads was during a period where they were an affiliate for NYCFC, developing young players for the MLS club against USL Championship competition. Wilmington planned to go on hiatus for 2017 and explore options to move to a larger market, and Briggs take a new position as assistant coach with Real Monarchs for the start of the 2017 season.
At that time Real Monarchs were the developmental team for MLS’ Real Salt Lake, and were also competing in USL Championship. Just one month into the 2017 season, Monarchs head coach Mike Petke was elevated to the MLS first team. That opened the door for Briggs to become the head coach for the Monarchs, where he became the USLC coach of the year for a performance that saw the team finish with the highest point total in the league, and was the first year in which the Monarchs made it to the playoffs.
Briggs was hired on at Sacramento Republic for 2019 to take over the youth academy program. The academy has a strong track record for developing collegiate and professional players. As of the start of 2025, 29 players have gone on the play professionally, and 86 have gone on to play collegiately.
Sacramento Republic Head Coach
Image credit: Erin Chang/ ISI Photos/ Getty Images
As mentioned in the intro, Coach Briggs was most recently the head coach for Sacramento Republic, starting for the 2020 season. From 2020 through 2024, Sacramento accumulated a 74-49-47 record. In the 2022 Open Cup Sacramento defeated three MLS teams on their way to the championship game, where they lost 0-3 to Orlando City. The run gave tremendous exposure to the USL as a whole, in addition to elevating the club's profile. They followed that season with an appearance in the USL Championship Western conference final in 2023, losing to eventual champion Phoenix Rising. 2024 saw the Republic finish fifth in the West for the regular season, and Coach Briggs and the club mutually agreed to part ways after the season.
Birmingham Legion
Birmingham brings Briggs in as only the second coach in the club's history. There's a good pool of talent on the club, and Briggs should be able to hit the ground running. His first game with the team will be the road game against Tampa Bay on May 3.
Cross posted from Lower Alabama