As the Major League Soccer season draws near to Decision Day next month, two significant questions occupy the minds of every FC Dallas fan. Will the club secure a spot in the MLS Playoffs this year? Additionally, who will become the next head coach?

In a way, the two go hand in hand with one another. A playoff berth likely means interim manager Peter Luccin will be asked to stay around a bit longer as the next head coach of the club. But even if that doesn’t happen, it appears he is still the front-runner for the spot.

GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert reports that Luccin remains the front-runner for the vacant head coaching spot, despite the club not being in a playoff position at the moment.

No decision has been made or contract agreed with Dallas going through the final stages of their coaching search, but sources are confident Luccin is top choice.

Under Luccin, Dallas are performing at a playoff pace — 1.64 points per game in 14 matches. Over the course of a season, that would put them in fifth place in this year’s West, within touching distance of second. The biggest improvement has been the attack, which is averaging 2.2 goals per game under Luccin after 1.2 under Nico Estevez this year.

BDS Take

In a way, none of this should be surprising to anyone who has been watching FC Dallas under Luccin this summer. The team has looked drastically different, and the energy surrounding the team has been different since the club let Nico Estevez go in June.

The Hunts have a long history of going with someone they know well instead of going outside of the box with a hire. Estevez was one of their first outside hires after years of hiring fairly internal candidates that they were more familiar with. Luccin has been a part of the organization for more than a decade both as a player and coach.

Based on what my sources have told me about their coaching search, it hasn’t been a very big one so far. The team made it fairly clear that they wanted to see this season out and how Luccin fared before going through too many rounds of interviews with other candidates.

Do I think Luccin is the right guy long-term for this club as manager? Honestly, I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Again, the vibes and energy has been different since he took over and I do think over time, with the right off season moves, the defensive issues will get sorted out under Luccin.

But I also get where some folks will come in and say this move isn’t ambitious at all from the Hunts. Which, in a way, they’re not wrong in saying.

The big capper will be if Luccin is able to guide the club into the playoffs in these last four games. FC Dallas currently trails Minnesota United by five points in the Western Conference standings. With four games to go, that is a fairly large mountain to climb, especially when their next two games will be on the road, where they’ve only won once this season.

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