I have to say that this is not news that I or anyone else saw coming, but here it is: According to Jeff Rueter at The Athletic, John Hackworth and Louisville City have mutually agreed to separate. He has already left his post.

Louisville City confirmed Rueter’s report later when they announced that Danny Cruz would be assuming the interim head coach role in addition to his duties as technical director:

“We are excited for Danny to take the reins of LouCity — a well-earned opportunity,” said LouCity president Brad Estes. “The momentum of this organization is unwavering, and we will continue to support our players and staff in their mission to fill the trophy case.”

This is obviously out of the blue. No one would choose to leave a head coaching job or fire their head coach one game into the season after three months of preseason without a really, really good reason. What that reason is, we might never know. Hackworth hasn’t said anything publicly (so far, it’s only hours old at this point) and Brad Estes’s remarks focus on Danny Cruz and moving forward.

Never a dull moment at LouCity, huh? I guess the good news is Morados don’t have another game until May 8 at home against Birmingham Legion. Hackworth is generally well-liked by his players and this news may have come as a real shock to them. Or it may not have? Soccer Holdings thus far has been a pretty tight ship, so I don’t expect too many leaks out of them.

In a lot of ways, this is really disappointing. The club is in a really good place right now, City has the deepest roster it’s ever had, and we’re working our way to the opening season at Lynn Family Stadium that was promised before COVID-19 derailed everything. Losing your manager in the face of all that upward momentum could be a significant speed bump.

However, if there’s ever been a club or group of players that was able to overcome something like this, it’s Louisville City. No one will forget the 2018 season that saw Hackworth become manager after James O’Connor left for Orlando City and MLS, leaving Paolo DelPiccolo, George Davis IV, and Luke Spencer in charge of the team. Luckily, four of the five guys in that last sentence still work at the club.

I wish John Hackworth well. He was a good coach, a good person, and had a good soccer brain. I hope whatever brought this decision about gets buried or put behind us soon.

More to the point, we as supporters will need to get behind Danny Cruz in his first ever managerial stint. Danny’s got a great reputation as a hard worker, enjoys great rapport with the team, and I have no doubt he’d have ended up as a manager in this league (or a higher one) sooner or later. I’m excited to see what he can do for us in the coming weeks and months. He’s earned the chance to prove he can do the job.

In truth, he’s got a lot to live up to. My expectations for winning the division and the USL Championship Cup Final Trophy (TM) aren’t changing, and I doubt yours are, either. But let’s do what we can to help him and the team get there.

VAMOS MORADOS.