Coach search tops Revs’ busy offseason

FOXBORO — One by one, Revolution players marched through the last rites of their season yesterday.

After capping a frustrating year with a last-gasp 3-2 win at Montreal on Sunday, the Revs cleaned out their lockers and proceeded through their exit physicals at Gillette Stadium.

The placement of this ritual just hours before the start of the MLS postseason underscored the fallout from missing the playoffs for a second consecutive year after finishing with a 13-15-6 record.

“No one wants to be here today,” Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “Everyone wants to be playing in the games tonight. But we put ourselves here.”

Many of the players face the uncertainty of an offseason with the appointment of a new coach and a host of decisions about the composition of next year’s squad to follow.

Revolution interim coach Tom Soehn confirmed he interviewed with general manager Michael Burns and reaffirmed his desire to land the permanent role. Soehn is under consideration, but the club is also undertaking an extensive search to evaluate potential domestic and international candidates for the role.

Burns said he has personally spoken with “north of 20” candidates about the position since former coach Jay Heaps exited last month.

There is no defined timeline regarding the final decision, but there is a desire to have a coach in place before the club needs to decline or exercise player options by Dec. 1, in accordance with MLS’ collective bargaining agreement.

“I think it’s important for the coach to be on board and involved in those decisions,” Burns said. “He’s going to be the one coaching the players next year. That’s the main goal. It’s not a guarantee, but we’d like to have someone on board in the next few weeks to assist with that process.”

There is ample latitude to make extensive changes with several regulars entering an option year or facing the end of their contract. Kei Kamara and Xavier Kouassi lead the list in the former category, while Benjamin Angoua (Guingamp) and Gershon Koffie (Hammarby IF) are at the conclusion of their one-year loan spells.

Their futures — and the fates of many other players in a similar position — remain unclear as the Revs plot a new course for the future.

“There is definitely a sense of a fresh start, but there’s a bitter taste as well,” Revs midfielder Kelyn Rowe said. “Our actions led to this new start. We could have done a lot better. It happened. We can’t control it now. What we can control now is how we step on the field next year.”