Bob Lilley
Announced as the club’s 10th head coach in its history on Nov. 14, 2017, Bob Lilley will enter his fifth season at the helm for Riverhounds SC.
Last year, Lilley led the Hounds to a 17-8-7 record, which was good for third place in the highly competitive Atlantic Division. The team secured a berth in the USL Championship playoffs for a fourth consecutive season, the longest such streak in club history.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Lilley guided the Hounds to an 11-4-1 record, which was good for second place in Group F and a third consecutive playoff berth, the first time in club history the team has made three straight postseasons.
In 2019, Lilley led the club to a 19-4-11 regular-season record, which totals the most single-season wins in team history, and the USL Championship Eastern Conference regular-season championship.
The club also made the postseason in 2018, when it hosted the first-ever playoff match at Highmark Stadium. Lilley has posted a 62-21-33 regular-season record with the Hounds, including shutting out opponents in exactly half of those matches, 52 out of 116.
Lilley came to Pittsburgh after coaching USL’s Rochester Rhinos, which he led during two separate stints (2014-17 and 2010-11). In his six seasons with the Rhinos, Lilley compiled an 82-39-51 regular-season record, which includes a 2015 mark of 17-1-10 en route to winning Coach of the Year honors and the USL Cup. He also was named Coach of the Year in 2010, when Rochester won the USSF Division 2 Professional League regular-season title. The Rhinos made the playoffs in every season under Lilley and achieved at least a fourth-round finish in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup from 2014-17.
Before joining the Rhinos ahead of their 2010 season, Lilley spent the 2007-08 campaign as head coach of the Detroit Ignition of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He earned Coach of the Year honors, as the Ignition logged a 22-8 record and won the league’s regular-season championship.
For three seasons (2005-07), Lilley served as head coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the USL First Division. While with the club, he guided the Whitecaps to a 33-20-31 regular-season record and a league championship in 2006.
From 2002-03, Lilley was the head coach for the Montreal Impact of the USL A-League. He directed the club to the playoffs both years and amassed a regular-season record of 32-15-9, in addition to winning Coach of the Year honors in 2003.
The Fort Monmouth, N.J. native began his head-coaching career with the Hershey Wildcats, which he led from 1997-01. In his five seasons with the USL A-League club, he compiled an 86-46-6 regular-season record and was named Coach of the Year in 1997, his first-ever campaign as a head coach. Hershey made the playoffs each season with Lilley at the helm, including a trip to the A-League final in 2001.
Across his 21 seasons of head-coaching experience in the pro game, Lilley holds an all-time record of 317-149-130. He has logged at least a .500 winning percentage during each regular season and has led his team into the postseason every year. He also has won two league titles, earned Coach of the Year honors five times, and in 2010, he was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame as a coach.
Lilley played professionally with the Orlando Lions of the American Soccer League from 1989-90 (two seasons) and the Maryland Bays of the American Professional Soccer League in 1991 (one season). He also played professional indoor soccer with the Hershey Impact of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) from 1988-91 (three seasons), the Harrisburg Heat of the NPSL from 1991-97 (six seasons), and the Pittsburgh Stingers of the Continental Indoor Soccer League in 1994 (one season).
From 1984-87, Lilley played at George Mason University, where he was a four-year starter and team captain. He was inducted into the George Mason Men’s Soccer Hall of Fame in 2011.
DAN VISSER
Dan Visser enters his seventh full season as an assistant coach with Riverhounds SC after originally joining the club in July 2016 as part of head coach Dave Brandt’s staff.
Prior to arriving in Pittsburgh, Visser served as an assistant coach under Brandt at the United States Naval Academy during its 2015 campaign. The Midshipmen finished this season with an 8-9-1 overall record.
From 2013-14, Visser was head coach at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., where the Lions made a two-win improvement in his second year over the first.
Visser began his coaching career at the NCAA Division III level, serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa. During his two years at Eastern, the Eagles compiled a 21-11-2 record and had 11 student-athletes earn all-conference honors.
The West Chester, Pa. native played collegiately as a midfielder at Messiah College for four seasons before graduating in 2008. During this period, the team won three national championships and accumulated an 89-6-2 record. The two-time team captain also received Regional All-America honors in 2007.
JON BUSCH
Jon Busch is in his first season as the goalkeeper coach for Riverhounds SC. He was previously the goalkeeping coach for the Scottish Premiership side Hibernian, and before that, with Indy Eleven in the NASL and USL Championship.
Busch entered coaching after an impressive 21-year professional career that included 14 seasons in MLS. Busch first played in the A-League, where he was named the 2001 A-League Goalkeeper of the Year while helping the Hershey Wildcats reach the league final under Bob Lilley.
He then was drafted by the Columbus Crew in the 2002 MLS Super Draft and played there until 2006 before joining the Chicago Fire from 2007-09. In 2008, his best year with the Fire, he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the league in save percentage and tying for the league lead in shutouts. Busch continued his career joining the San Jose Earthquakes in 2010, returning to the Fire in 2015 and finishing his playing career with Indy Eleven in 2016-17.
Busch also represented the United States in international play as part of the Under-17 team in the 1993 World Championship. He remained in the U.S. player pool and made his only start at the senior level in 2005, recording a shutout against Colombia, 3-0.
