Along with hometown hero status and one of the coolest names on the block, Amos Magee brings a wealth of knowledge to Minnesota United as the club’s first ever director of player personnel. His career started with the Thunder and has blossomed over the past ten years as he gained experience with the Portland Timbers and DC United. Now one of the most highly sought after names in the league, Magee is bringing his talents back to the North.
“Certainly on paper this maybe appears like bringing back somebody who is from here and that just makes perfect sense, but it's actually a lot more than that,” said Minnesota United Sporting Director Manny Lagos. “We're bringing back somebody who is been involved in pro sports for a couple of decades now and has built up the type of experience that we can tap into to grow and get better as a club.”
Magee’s resume speaks for itself. He has been part of building an expansion club in Portland that won the MLS Cup in 2015 – by all accounts ahead of schedule – and was there for DC United’s rebuilding process that resulted in one of the hottest closing-season runs in MLS in 2016, with the team averaging more than two goals a game beginning Aug. 6. And, while all of those accomplishments happened away from home, Magee hasn’t lost touch with the team he left in 2008.
The Ibarra Effect
Logos and Magee go way back. They first starting winning championships together in 1987 with St. Paul Academy and moved up the ranks together – making their professional debut with the Minnesota Thunder in the early ‘90s. Magee took over the Thunder in 2006, with Lagos on board as the director of soccer operations. Even after Magee left the Thunder in 2008, the two never lost touch or respect for one another.
“The thing that never failed was our friendship and our belief in each other, so we've always stayed in touch,” Magee said. “If there was a player that we couldn't sign and I thought a lot of, I'd always let him know and he would do his homework and if he felt like it was the right fit then it was the right fit.”
That collaboration lead to arguably the most successful signing in Minnesota United history – Miguel Ibarra. Drafted by Magee’s Portland Timbers in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft, Ibarra went unsigned – largely due to Portland’s depth at the winger position. However, Magee recognized the raw talent of Ibarra and passed his information along to Lagos. Ibarra developed with Minnesota United and in 2014 was the first American player to get capped with the U.S. Men’s National Team in North American Soccer League history.
“It's just situations where a team might have a lot of outside midfielders or a team might have a lot of veteran or different players, so there is no doubt there is a rapport and a belief in finding and looking at players that we really respect each other,” Lagos said. “We are pushing each other to evolve and get better about the sport and about learning and making sure that we're pushing each other to learn every week.”
Minnesota Hardware
The Stars-turned-United had success early in the North American Soccer League because of the belief Lagos and Magee shared in one another – resulting in championship hardware for Minnesota soccer in 2011.
“Another piece, it's not in the same clout as Miguel, but I really believed in a kid named Kyle Altman and I brought him here,” Amos said. “This was back in 2007 or 2008 and he had an ankle injury, but Manny believed in him and when he became the coach in 2009 he brought him back and the kid ended up captaining a championship.”
Altman, like Ibarra, was drafted in the second round of the MLS Supplemental Draft, but went unsigned. Magee saw something special in the Trinity University All-American and signed him in 2008, where he made 15 appearances with the Minnesota Thunder. After taking a year off from the game in 2009, Lagos brought Altman back into the club with the NCS Stars and wearing the captain’s armband Altman brought a championship to Minnesota.
“We actually talked sometimes about what you're looking for in certain players and what makes up the dynamic of a player and it isn't always how fast, how strong, how technical a lot of times, it's how they act off the field and what they bring to you, and we both found a lot of common ground in that kid because we believed in him holistically,” Magee said. “We spent enough time talking about what we like in players, we don't always necessarily agree, but we certainly know there is enough common ground and he is an example of what suits your taste and he suited both of our tastes — I won a gold medal in Argentina with him and Manny won a championship with him and maybe no one else believed in him the way we did, but we did.”
Building MNUFC
As history repeats itself, Lagos and Magee will be looking to unearth another unrecognized star and develop players as they build MNUFC into a club in their image. Without unveiling too much or limiting their options, both Lagos and Magee said Minnesota United will be focused on bringing value to the club. For both, building the club means finding players that match the rugged and resilient determination of the Minnesota people.
“I like to talk about the culture of Minnesota because I am from here, people talk about the North or the Midwest and whatever it is, we are a state and a territory settled by rugged individuals,” Magee said. “For us to be at our best, we are going to have to bring in players that aren’t afraid to work hard, aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves, that have a true sense of community, that have a sense of belonging, and also, a beautiful piece of self-reliance and determination.”
The journey to building a team based on that vision begins Dec. 13 for MNUFC with the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft. Minnesota United has the second pick in the draft after fellow expansion side Atlanta United and will have the option to choose five players from a list of unprotected players already playing in MLS. Your journey into Major League Soccer can begin now, with season tickets on sale at mnunitedtickets.com. Check it out, find a seat and buckle in for an exciting inaugural year at TCF Bank Stadium.
