It was less than two years ago that current CF Montreal coach Laurent Courtois was on the sidelines at the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, coaching the developmental Crew 2 team to a victory in the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro championship.
After spending two seasons with Crew 2, it was announced in January that Courtois was becoming Montreal’s new coach, making him the first MLS NEXT Pro coach to be hired at the first team level.
On Saturday, Courtois will be back in Columbus coaching when the Crew take on Montreal for the first time this season.
For multiple Crew players who were on the Crew 2 roster during Courtois’ stint, this will be the first time seeing their former coach on the opposing sideline, but as Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte puts it, he is “more excited just to see him.”
Schulte was one of the five Crew players who were a part of Crew 2’s playoff run in 2022 with Courtois, that went on to win the 2023 MLS Cup. Courtois taking the jump to the first team level comes as little surprise to Schulte, knowing the impact he had on the players who used the developmental team as a steppingstone to professional success.
“It’s a byproduct of Laurent and the style that he had and the culture he created,” Schulte said. “It’s awesome to see; obviously, we all still keep in touch.”
Even before the Courtois hiring, there was a connection for Crew coach Wilfried Nancy to Montreal.
The Crew’s second-season coach spent over ten years with Montreal’s organization, spending time with the academy before eventually spending a season as the first team coach before arriving in Columbus. That has little impact on how Nancy is viewing this matchup, however.
“It’s another game,” Nancy said. “I’m pleased for Laurent because he’s going to come back here and it’s going to be good for him to see that and to see the game in a different perspective.”
How does the Columbus Crew keep focus on CF Montreal with another match vs CF Monterrey set for Wednesday?
Nancy has always been a “one game at a time” type of coach and prefers to avoid playing any team back-to-back because “it’s not easy.”
With the Crew’s meeting with Montreal sitting in between their two CONCACAF semifinal matches against CF Monterrey, it’s difficult to imagine that every Columbus player is keeping from overlooking Saturday and has started to focus on next Wednesday.
“It’s cliche, but this is another game and we’re happy to play this game because practice is boring sometimes for the players,” Nancy said. “So, this is good for them. They know that this is an MLS game, and we want to do well in this competition as well.”
Columbus took a 2-1 aggregate advantage last Wednesday in the first leg matchup with Monterrey, which is crucial for the Crew’s chances in their Champions Cup competition, but a top goal for Nancy since joining has been to bring home the Supporters’ Shield.
Though there is well over half the regular season still left to play, the Crew took a bit of a hit during their six-game draw streak, three of which were MLS matches, and are four points out from the top spot in the MLS standings.
“Right now, where we’re at on the table,” Schulte said, “and where we want to be in MLS play, we need to win these games, especially take advantage of them at home.”
