Sometimes when things go wrong, you need to look backward instead of forward. That's exactly where Orlando City finds itself right now.
The club just fired Oscar Pareja after only THREE games into the new MLS season. Yeah, you read that right. Three games.
Sure, those three performances were awful. Flat, uninspired soccer that made fans want to leave at halftime. But firing your most successful MLS coach ever after three matches? That's wild.
Pareja brought Orlando City to the playoffs six straight seasons. That's the longest current postseason streak in MLS. He made this club relevant after years of wandering through mediocrity.
So why the sudden change? Nobody really knows. And that's the problem.
The Timing Was Terrible
Here's what makes this even messier. The coaching announcement came just hours after Kay Rawlins announced her retirement.
Kay Rawlins isn't just some executive. She's one of the three people who built Orlando City from nothing. Along with her ex-husband Phil and coach Adrian Heath, she brought the team from Austin to Orlando when everyone said it would never work.
A famous Orlando sportscaster even told them: "Soccer will never work in Orlando." But they proved him wrong.
Kay's retirement should have been celebrated for a week. Instead, the club buried the news by firing Pareja on the same day. The messaging has been awkward. The optics look bad. And longtime fans are confused.
Adrian Heath Could Be the Answer
This brings us to Adrian "Inchy" Heath. The 5-foot-6 former Everton striker who helped build Orlando City from scratch.
Heath wasn't just the club's first coach. He lived and breathed Orlando City for 6½ years. He drank Guinness with fans in soccer pubs. He showed up at community events. He helped organize supporter groups.
Those early years weren't just about winning championships, though Orlando City won plenty. They were about building a soccer culture in a city that didn't have one.
And Heath was right in the middle of it all.
When Orlando City reached MLS in 2015, Heath guided them to the third-best expansion season in league history. But just a year and a half later, new ownership fired him.
Many fans never thought it was right. Heath had been promised a three-year plan. He never got to finish it.
"You can't achieve what people expect you to achieve in a year and a half," Heath said years later. You could still hear the hurt in his voice.
When I spoke with him in 2019, he said something that tells you everything: "Orlando City will never, ever, ever be just another game to me. Because I put too much into building that franchise."
That's love right there. That's someone who still cares deeply about this club.
Right now, Orlando City has interim coach Martin Perelman. The team looks lost. The front office messaging is confusing. For bettors considering Orlando City futures or match bets, this instability makes them a risky proposition until things settle down.
So here's the idea: Bring back Adrian Heath. At least for the rest of this season.
He's not coaching anywhere right now. And I know he'd jump at the chance to return. It would reconnect the club with its roots. It would make longtime fans happy at a time when the club desperately needs goodwill.
More importantly, Heath understands Orlando City's DNA better than anyone. He knows what made this club special. He knows what it once meant to Central Florida and what it could mean again.
Maybe he could spark something. Maybe he could bring back that energy that made Orlando City one of the most vibrant soccer communities in America.
Or maybe the club could right a wrong and give Heath the chance to finish what he started.
Phil Rawlins. Kay Rawlins. Adrian Heath. Those three names belong on Orlando City's Mount Rushmore. They built everything.
The club has reached a crossroads. They can keep stumbling through this mess. Or they can bring back the man who helped create it all in the first place.
Sometimes you can't find your future until you journey through your past. For Orlando City, that journey leads straight back to Inchy.
