AC Grand Rapids Introduces First Head Coach — and Soccer Fans Have Plenty to Be Excited About

Last week, AC Grand Rapids took another major step toward its inaugural season, introducing Erik Bushey as the first head coach in club history. The Squire had the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with Coach Bushey following the announcement, and as soccer fans ourselves, we walked away even more excited about what is being built in West Michigan.

Bushey comes to Grand Rapids after nearly three decades in Colorado soccer. Most recently, he served as head coach of Colorado Rapids 2, the MLS NEXT Pro affiliate of Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids. He has led Rapids 2 since the league’s inaugural 2022 season, earned MLS NEXT Pro Coach of the Year in 2023 and took the club to the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup final. Earlier in his career, he spent 15 years as technical director of Colorado Rush and coached within the Colorado Rapids Academy. He has helped develop dozens of national-team and professional players along the way. 

Originally from Auburn, Washington, Bushey is now trading the Mountain West for the Midwest. He has only been in West Michigan a short time, but the energy he brings is already noticeable. Just as importantly, he seems genuinely excited to be here.

Club leadership said the search went well beyond simply finding someone who could win games. President Darrius Barnes said AC Grand Rapids wanted a coach who had demonstrated success, developed players for the next level and built cultures people want to be part of. Vice President of Sporting Operations & Strategy B.J. Snow described Bushey as the kind of teacher, communicator and leader they wanted helping establish the club from the ground up.

That emphasis on culture and community came up again and again during the press conference.

Bushey spoke about the rare opportunity to become the first coach of a brand-new club and help define its identity from day one. His philosophy fits closely with what AC Grand Rapids leadership has been saying from the beginning: develop people and players the right way, build the culture first — and compete to win.

Snow brings an impressive résumé of his own. A Kalamazoo native, he previously coached in the U.S. Women’s National Team program and was part of the staff during the program’s World Cup-winning era. As AC Grand Rapids’ Vice President of Sporting Operations & Strategy, Snow is helping oversee everything from playing philosophy and scouting to recruitment, development and performance.

One thing that makes AC Grand Rapids particularly interesting is its position within MLS NEXT Pro. Unlike most clubs in the league, ACGR is an independent club rather than the reserve team of an MLS franchise. That gives Grand Rapids more freedom to build its own identity, roster and player-development model rather than existing primarily to serve a parent MLS team. MLS NEXT Pro itself was created as a professional pathway between elite youth soccer and MLS, and independent clubs are becoming a growing part of that league. 

For fans, that independence could also mean getting to know players as part of our club and watching their careers develop right here in West Michigan.

Of course, some of the best questions of the day did not come from the media.

Julian, age 8, and his brother Santiago, age 5, had a few things they wanted to know themselves. They asked Coach Bushey whether he liked being a coach here so far — and, perhaps even more importantly, what his favorite animal is.

For the record: a dog.

Sometimes those are the questions that tell you the most about whether someone is going to fit into a community.

The press conference left us with the sense that AC Grand Rapids is trying to build something larger than a roster and a win-loss record. The people leading it talk repeatedly about culture, community, player development and creating a club West Michigan can feel ownership in. And judging from Bushey’s first week in town, he appears ready to embrace all of it.

Now comes the hard part: waiting.

AC Grand Rapids will play its first-ever home match Friday, March 19, 2027, at the new 8,500-seat Amway Stadium in downtown Grand Rapids. The game will also be the first sporting event held inside the new stadium.

If you love soccer, March 19 cannot come soon enough.