TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rowdies start a new chapter this week as assistant coach Stuart Dobson takes over as the interim head coach. Neill Collins left the team to take the head coach job with Burnley FC in England, but the standard of excellence he helped build remains intact.
"Neill’s instilled this work ethic in the guys for the last five years. Guys have come and gone in those five years, but the message has always remained the same," Dobson said after practice. "These guys are fully on board. I respect them, and they fully respect me. And they haven’t dropped their standards one bit."
The players say they feel comfortable moving forward because there isn't going to be much change in the locker room or on the field.
"Truly, try to keep a lot of things similar to what we’ve built with Neill," said forward Cal Jennings. "[Dobson’s] been really good about holding us to a high standard and not changing things up too much. We’re looking to continue doing what we’re doing to have success."
Jennings has helped fuel the team's recent success. The first-year Rowdy has six goals in his last three games, including a hat trick in Saturday's win over Oakland.
"It speaks to the quality of the team. The service has been great," Jennings explained. "I got two great balls from [Sebastian Dalgaard], and then [J.J. Williams] hooked me up on the last one. Thankful for that, thankful for running off the ball, and hopefully more hat tricks to come."
The Rowdies signed the 26-year-old after he netted 22 goals with the Las Vegas Lights in 2022. He was just one of a handful of new faces in the starting line-up. Dobson said Jennings and the rest of the new-look roster continues to improve as the season goes on.
"Cal has really been unbelievable. He’s really been special these last three games. He just can’t stop scoring," Dobson added. "So, you know, we’ve just gotta hope that continues, and we have other guys on the pitch also that we know can step up to the plate as well."
Tampa Bay is 9-0-2 in their last 11 games. They're one point out of first place in the Eastern Conference. Jennings joked that the team wants to keep the hot streak going, especially because they don't want to hand their new coach a loss in his first appearance.
"We got his back, and we’re gonna do our best to keep the streak rolling," Jennings laughed. "Dobo’s a great guy. He deserves it, and I know he’ll lead us to good places."
Tampa Bay hits the road this weekend for a Saturday night date with Birmingham Legion FC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
