TAMPA, Fla. – USL League One announced today that Chattanooga Red Wolves SC’s Scott Mackenzie had been voted the 2025 USL League One Coach of the Year after his side posted its best campaign in club history in a remarkable year-on-year improvement from the 2024 season.

Appointed the Red Wolves manager in October, 2023 after serving as interim Head Coach previously, Mackenzie’s direct style of play fully took hold this season as the side finished second in the League One regular season, its best finish in a regular season campaign in its seven-season history.

Mackenzie becomes the youngest coach to win the award at the age of 35 years, 9 months, 25 days old, surpassing former Union Omaha Head Coach Dominic Casciato, who was 36 years, 11 months, 28 days old when he first earned the award in the 2023 season. 

“I mean, first, just grateful,” said Mackenzie of the award. “Grateful for the opportunity. Grateful for Bob Martino and the ownership group for believing in me and giving me the opportunity. Grateful for the club giving us the platform to put the work in. And I think it's really important to know that it's a team award. Coaches are nothing without the players. Hopefully we can do little bits that help them accelerate.

“The guys worked so hard this year and put everything on the pitch and proved a lot of people wrong and extremely grateful for it.  We as coaches put a lot of ideas out into the world, but they're only as good as the people buy into them. I was fortunate enough this year to work with a group of guys who were all in on everything they did and absolutely bought into the ideas and may have made me look a little bit better than I am.”

While posting a 35.4 percent average possession mark per game in the regular season – the lowest in a League One season, surpassing the previous low of 43.2 percent by the Richmond Kickers in the 2021 regular season – the Red Wolves allowed the fewest Expected Goals Against in the regular season at 29.72xGA.

The side also faced the fewest shots (289) and fewest shots on target (79) as its defensive structure proved challenging for opponents to break down, with Young Player of the Year finalist Eric Kinzner leading the side with 183 clearances and All-League selection Declan Watters recording 180.

In turn, the Red Wolves posted single-season club records in wins (15) and points (55), with the club’s points-per-game mark improving by 1.01ppg from a 0.82 mark in 2024 to a 1.83 mark in the 2025 regular season. For the 35-year-old, the season has been fulfilling on and off the field, with the ability to open new doors for the squad the club assembled the biggest point of pride.

“It's probably the best year of my life,” said Mackenzie. “I’ve had a couple of good years. I’m lucky enough to be the dad of three little girls. One was born this year in the middle of a season.  That was, I mean, that's crazy enough to have a newborn in the middle of a season. So there's the personal joy that came in this year, but then to surround it with just good people, and watch other people have success – because there was a lot of people that were able to come play with me this year because they had a chip on their shoulder, that had been written off elsewhere, and I was able to be someone who could say, ‘Hey, I believe in you and I believe in what you can do and I believe in what you can show.’

“It’s just been such a joy to be able to look at the amount of guys that maybe other people didn't want, but we saw something in, the same as our ownership has done for me, and then prove, not anyone wrong, but ourselves absolutely right. I’m young in the professional game and so, I think this has been the best year of my career to date and hopefully it’s just the basement”

Mackenzie earned the Coach of the Year award with 41 percent of the ballot, voted on by technical staff from every club in the league following the regular season. One Knoxville SC’s Ian Fuller finished second with 27 percent of the ballot, while FC Naples’ Matt Poland and Portland Hearts of Pine’s Bobby Murphy finished tied for third with 14 percent of the ballot.

Five coaches received votes in the ballot.

USL League One Coach of the Year
2019 – Eric Quill, North Texas SC
2020 – John Harkes, Greenville Triumph SC
2021 – Jay Mims, Union Omaha
2022 – Darren Sawatzky, Richmond Kickers
2023 – Dominic Casciato, Union Omaha
2024 – Dominic Casciato, Union Omaha
2025 – Scott Mackenzie, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC