Tommy McCabe played with FC Cincinnati during their inaugural year in MLS in 2019, but is a veteran of several USL sides, winning the USL title with Orange County SC in 2021. We spoke with the 27-year-old who recently surpassed the 10,000 minutes played mark in the USL to get his thoughts on why he signed with Loudoun last year and his thoughts on the team so far this year. Note: This has been lightly edited for clarity.

The District Press: To a lot of outsiders, it’s been a surprising year so far. I wanted to kind of get your thoughts on the team’s evolution from from last year to this, as it’s been largely the same bunch. Is there something different that you’ve done or is there a secret sauce going on that nobody wants to talk about?

Tommy McCabe: I think everyone goes into a season talking about what’s new within a group, and I think we actually did quite the opposite. If you want to call that a secret sauce you can, but I think it’s more about trusting people that got you to a certain point. We were open with each other that at the end of last season, we fell short of (an) arbitrary playoff line and our target of 45 points. We were one game away from that, so we missed those two targets that we set for ourselves as season long objectives.

But I think there was still a ton of progress made last year for us, maybe we underperformed some of the chances we continued to create as the season went on. Some of our overall performances didn’t reflect where we were as a group when it came to points, so that’s where I think it’s not an overnight success. We believed in the people that we had in the locker room and the staff. We brought back a majority of those people knowing that at the end of the day, the performances we put in last year were somewhat better than where we actually ended up. When you combine those two: some of the pain and the hurt of falling short of your goals, but also knowing that we are still a very good team, I think you get this really special connection amongst the group. That’s why I think you’ve seen some of the strong starts from us that have both reflected the performances that we’ve put in, but the results as well.

DP: How you fit into the leadership dynamic? You came in at the beginning of last year, Zach (Ryan) was the captain, Drew (Skundrich) was brought back and Robby (Dambrot) too. What’s your, what’s your role within the group? Or is it kind of like, like leadership by committee?

TM: It’s definitely leadership by committee, and I think that’s a testament to the environment that Ryan Martin has created. When a lot of us came in, (captain) Zach Ryan welcomed people’s opinions and voices, and that becomes really easy to share your opinion in a locker room like that. I think that goes beyond any sort of leadership committee as we try to create that environment amongst the whole group. I think that’s number one. ThenI think even within that, you have to have different types of voices within a leadership group. Mine comes more from a calmer, kind of thoughtful, analytical approach that balances better with some of the guys that lead by example, or some of the more emotional, passionate leaders. We have a group that balances those three main styles well, so we have created a really strong group.

DP: Given where you’ve played in the past, and knowing what the team has done in the past, it seemed like an odd signing at the time, not because of any one reason, but for lack of a better word, why Loudoun at that point?

TM: I think for me what I wanted out of my career is a place that I believed in the way they play soccer. I had a good relationship with the coach and he gave me an opportunity to take the next step in my career as more of a leader. At that time, as someone who had been in the league for five or six years and experienced highs and lows within the league, I felt I could help players that maybe were a bit younger than me or at less experienced in this league. I feel that I understand how to win in this league and how not to win in this league, and what the difference is between those two. For me that only gets you to a certain point, then you have to figure out how you do it together. I think that’s it’s great to have experience within this league, but for me it’s even more important to have experience in this league with a core group. I felt was important, to find a place that, yes, I believed in them, but they also believed in me.

DP: Along the same lines, is something that you talked about when it comes to playing (and winning) in the league? With Ben coming in, does it help serve as another voice of experience? What do you tell the guys that are maybe a little bit more impressionable about the start so far? Do you tell them anything? Or do you say, ‘guys, it’s May, but keep this kind of energy going?’

TM: No, I think we have a really smart group; they don’t need to be told anything specifically. For some of the guys that maybe haven’t experienced this, or more importantly what we experienced last year was that it is a long season. There’s going to be ups and downs, we’re just taking it game by game, and that’s our approach this season. There is nothing to be said about May right now and what that means in October and November. I think the only benefit is you can certainly put yourself in a position where you can do that later in the season. We’ve put ourselves in a position where that’s likely by having a good start, but there’s still plenty of games left. We’ve put ourselves in a position where it is possible for us to make playoffs, to clinch a home field or to challenge for the regular season title as well, but it’s still very early.

DP: You’ve played a few positions already early this season because of injuries, but I wanted to get your thoughts on playing next to guys like Drew, Yanis (Leerman), Jacob and Josh (Erlandson) and also the younger guys like Moses (Nyeman).

TM: Yeah, I think they make it easy for me. They’re all very good players, they naturally complement my skillset well, and I think that’s credit to Ryan and then Olly (Gage, former Director of Soccer) and the roster that they built over the last year and a half plus. I think we’ve created nice relationships and partnerships across the field where that can happen. For example, obviously Abdellatif Aboukoura loves to come inside the field, and Kwame (Awuah) for me is one of the best attacking left backs in the league, and that relationship is important. Then you could say the same for our center backs, as they complement each other. And I think the trio of me, Drew and Moses do that as well. So I feel comfortable playing with a lot of different people because our skillsets are very complementary.

DP: We talk about Loudoun not being an overnight success story, that this has kind of been a longer process than people give credit for. That said, is winning seven of the first ten. What you expected? Did you think that the boys would be good, but did you think that they would be this good?

TM: So I think honestly, we had a lot of distractions in preseason. To our benefit, we didn’t really set expectations, and I think last year we were all about hitting these targets and these points expectations and yes, that can get you to a certain point, but it can also put a limit on you. And I think what we’re seeing is the benefit of us not putting an expectation or a “limit” on ourselves, and we’ve just taken it game by game. So to be honest, I didn’t have an expectation going into this year, and I think that’s that’s played to our benefit.

DP: Have there been any pleasant surprises that that have come in the first couple of months for you?

TM: I’ve enjoyed our start to the season. The people have been great, we’ve stuck together, and I think that’s shown some of our results on the road or coming back from games. But for me, it’s just a continuation of what we’ve been doing. I’m not surprised by by (Aboukoura) having a great start to the season, by Riley Bidois coming in as a 9 and doing well, by Ben (Mines) coming into the team and fitting in so well, by Keegan (Tingey) taking playing more of a center back role. These are all not surprises because of the people they are, we see that on a daily basis but other people don’t. And I think there’s a strong belief in who we are as people together as well.

DP: If someone who’s not really like watching you guys a lot other than seeing the table and going ‘Oh, wow!’ is that kind of the message that ‘we’ve expected this, even if you haven’t?’

TM: We haven’t set expectations for ourselves because that we don’t want to put our limit on ourselves. But I think there is a difference between that and belief, we believe in each other, and that’s the big thing, not because we expected this. And I think there’s a difference in that.

DP: Is there anything else that you would want people to know?

TM: I think for me the lasting message is that as much as the performances we’re putting on the field are great, I think the reason to come watch us play or tune into us on television, is because the people we have in this group on and off the field. I think that’s the real special thing that I’m proud of, and that is the reason why you’re seeing some of the performances. The result is we’ve got a fantastic group of people supporting us and playing with us on the field. For me that’s the thing that I’ve enjoyed the most.