Revs restructure, promote Burns and Bilello

by Eric Slack

November 9th, 2011

When Steve Nicol was not brought back as head coach of the Revolution, it presented the possibility that other changes at the top could be forthcoming. Soccer New England speculated on this prior to Nicol's departure, and as it turns out we were right that Nicol could be shown the door but that Mike Burns and Brian Bilello could hold on to their jobs. But we never imagined that if the organization was in fact going to restructure that the two remaining leaders of the organization would get more responsibility.

Mike Burns at the 2011 Revs Media Day

"Major League Soccer has evolved significantly in the last few years and while we felt we had a structure in place that had worked well earlier and led us to success, the last two years did not live up to our expectations," said Robert Kraft in a statement. "With this new executive structure, we will be better positioned to compete for championships on the field while we continue to focus on growing our business and building a soccer-specific venue in the Commonwealth."

Bilello was promoted to President of the New England Revolution having spent the last six seasons as Chief Operating Officer. Apparently it took six years to determine that Bilello's entire professional focus should be on the Revolution as he's finally been relieved of his other Kraft Sports Group duties. In his six years as COO, the club's attendance has gone from an average of 11,786 to 13,222. It spiked up to above 16,000 and 17,000 during the first few Beckham years but has declined consistently since, other than a strange slight bump up this year. Now, he will oversee soccer and business operations.

As for Burns, he is now General Manager after working as the Vice President of Player Personnel for the past four seasons. In his four seasons as VP, the team's on-field performance has dipped with playoff appearances and first round exits in his first two years, and missing the playoffs in the last two. Now, Burns will clearly lead all Revolution soccer operations - coaching staff, player acquisitions, youth development, operations and management.

It is hard to see how the same people who had played significant roles in the oversight of the Revolution's downfall can lead its resurgence. Looking at the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics, all required massive organizational change and new personnel to become the powers they now are. There is one positive viewpoint: now that their roles have better definition, it will be easier to place blame and remove them should they fail.