Cooke no longer in running for head coach job
Steve Cooke will not be named the Rapids’ head coach for the 2018 season.
Rapids interim general manager Padraig Smith on Wednesday made the announcement in an interview on 950 AM, the team’s flagship radio station.
“We’ve decided that our final hire will be from outside the organization,” Smith said.
Cooke took over the job as interim coach after Pablo Mastroeni was fired Aug. 15. Colorado went 3-7-2 under Cooke, finishing the season with a 9-19-6 record and in second-to-last place in the Western Conference.
Smith said the team conducted a global search for a new head coach and expects to announce a hire in the next couple of weeks.
“We’re very close. We’re in the final stages,” he said.
Smith said Cooke will remain with the organization in a different role.
“It wasn’t good enough,” Smith said of the 2017 season in the interview. “You’re going to see some substantial changes in a number of areas.”
Smith plans to make upward of 11 changes to the Rapids’ roster this offseason as he continues to try to rebuild the team into a more attack-minded outfit. He said the Rapids also plan to bring in “important changes” in the front office, including a new head of sports science.
During the interview, he was critical of one of the Rapids key attackers, Shkelzen Gashi, who he said came into the season out of shape and as a result dealt with “niggling injuries” throughout the year.
“We’ve been very disappointed with the output from Gashi this year,” Smith said.
Gashi led the team in 2016 with nine goals, but only made 17 appearances in 2017 (12 starts) and scored just two goals.
“He’s committed to putting in a very good offseason,” Smith said of Gashi.
Smith also confirmed that goalkeeper Tim Howard plans to play for the Rapids next season, despite the U.S. national team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Howard had been vocal about his desire to play in one more World Cup for the U.S.
“I had a long chat with him after our last game in Seattle,” Smith said. “And he was ready to go already.”