As Loudoun United continued to grow their off-field infrastructure this offseason, one of the bigger pieces of news was the addition of Oliver Gage as the team’s Director of Soccer. However a deeper dive into the technical staff saw a familiar face return to the area in Patrick Mullins. For those unfamiliar, we’ll let Mullins provide his career to this point:

“My soccer journey started in New Orleans,” Mullins said in a recent interview. “That’s where I was born and raised, that’s where I fell in love with the game. (It’s) not exactly known for being a soccer hotbed, more for SEC football (and) Saints football. But I grew up watching Manchester United, the 1999 treble-winning highlight videos, and the first match I ever watched was the 99ers in the Women’s World Cup, so that’s one of my first vivid memories. From there, I just fell in love shooting the ball (and) did that pretty well, had some coaches who encouraged me to be putting in a lot of time and work on that. And that time and effort led me to play on a few different club teams there (like) Louisiana State ODP and on a few regional teams growing up. So that was my path that led me to the University of Maryland, where I played for four years there and earned a college degree as well. I played with many great teammates there, and coach Sasho Cirovski, who was a super influential coach in my soccer journey. I was fortunate enough to win the Mac Hermann Trophy twice as a junior and senior. Then (it) led to an eight-year career in MLS, five stops along the way, I got drafted in New England, played for New York City FC, DC United, Columbus and that finished in 2021, when I retired. I was also involved in the MLS Players’ Association, as a team representative (and) was a member of the Executive Board the last few years I was playing. That kind of triggered my mind to thinking about the sport outside of just on the field, but from a business sense as well. So when I retired, I worked as an agent for about a year and eight months, where I wanted to work with players who were starting their journeys like I started mine, and blending my own experiences, helping them through the ups and downs of their careers. I experienced the scouting side of things, which is now the chapter I’m in with Loudoun United, and to have the opportunity to be on the club side, helping in my role is something that I was exciting in doing and being a part of.”

The move from agent to scout is something that Mullins is finding a comfortable transition towards. “In the life of an agent, you wear many different hats and one of those is recruiting, and seeing players, having a network of information, whether it be coaches, players, to get a complete picture of players as they develop. The analogy I’ve heard is (it’s) kind of like taking snapshots of players at different points in their timelines. That’s something that resonated with me as an agent and is part of my role now in Scouting Operations. Being in the DMV with such a tremendous history in youth player and college development, that’s something that was exciting about the transitioning of roles.”

In terms of his day to day responsibilities, Mullins is succinct. “I focus on the scouting side for building the roster, and the focus when I started in September had been to help assemble the team for the season. And one of the big experiences was adding some experience in the USL Championship. So, the likes of Christiano Francois, or Drew Skundrich coming back, the last portion of the offseason were my priorities and focus.”

On the longer term focus, Mullins says, “It’s interesting. Where Coach Ryan (Martin) is thinking about how can we get points on the weekend at Birmingham, and Oliver (has) that big picture view in roster management, my role comes in more (communciating) on the players in the youth ranks, collegiate ranks and the professional ranks, and making sure they’re up to speed, and having agent communications, being able to see players and building a complete picture that fit into Ryan’s roster. And then where we want to identify the roster to grow in the three months, six months, twelve months time that Oliver is working on and thinking of.”

Mullins discusses a mantra that Martin has been preaching since the beginning. “A common theme across the club is getting 1% better every day. This is certainly a new career for me, and I need to continue learning and working to add to that skill set.” When asked what his definitions of that are for himself, Mullins responds, “I think it’s continuing to try and work with Oliver and Ryan and making sure that we’re assembling the team in the best way to compete week in, week out for our goals as a team this year. Setting the club up for the future as best as I can each day, that’s honestly how I approach it.”

With Lionel Messi now in MLS and the League growing, Mullins recalls his part in the Union’s development and legacy to the days before Messi’s arrival. “I was in the league for the 2015 CBA, then also for 2019 through 2021, you could say there were a few separate ones that were part of the negotiations.” But on his proudest accomplishment for his peers, Mullins says. “Just proud of being part of the history of the player pool. I think as the League has grown what’s been consistent is the voice of the players. Just seeing the growth of the player pool from my time in the league, I had more than 150 to 175 teammates from all over the world with different playing experiences, that sharing those locker rooms and finding that unity as a player was pretty special to be a part of.”

Moving from player to agent to returning to club soccer as a technical staff member made for some surprises. “In scouting operations but also during preseason, you have to wear many hats and help with the club as well. So I was helping as organizer in preseason (when the team went to IMG in Florida), and while I always tried to appreciate all of the staff of the clubs I played for, experiencing a preseason firsthand and all that goes into it, (there) was a lot of learning, but I’m also just appreciative of all that goes into the behind of the scenes of the club that goes into the match day and training pitch possible.”

Mullins couldn’t leave without being asked about his time with D.C., and his unique tenure of inhabiting old stadiums and/or training sites for every club but his last. “I remember mornings walking into RFK where, when it rained, (it) was dripping in from the ceiling and being caught in buckets. But I was also a part of the last game at RFK and the celebration of the club and all the characters that made what is was and what it is. I’ll always remember playing with Lloyd Sam, Patrick Nyarko, Bobby Boswell and Steve Birnbaum. That playoff run we made in 2016 I was definitely fond of, just being in an area where I went to school, and have lots of friends in the area as well. That made it special and gives me that kind of recollection of my time here.”