Less than a year of wait remains until the NWSL welcomes one of its new members into the league. Denver is set to make its debut in the 2026 campaign as the 16th expansion team. And each day, the new team continues to make significant developments in full swing. So it’s high time they announced their first-ever manager.

The protagonist goes by the name of Nick Cushing. A former head coach of Manchester City Women and MLS side New York City FC, the English tactician is apparently close to becoming the first head coach of the Denver NWSL team, according to Jeff Kassouf of ESPN. So far, nothing concrete has been shared, but an announcement is expected to be made as soon as the deal is sealed.

Having spent over 20 years at the City Football Group, Cushing started his journey with the British-based football clubs holding company in 2006 as an academy coach. It was just earlier this year that he stepped in as an interim manager of Manchester City Women after the Sky Blues’ head coach, Gareth Taylor, was dismissed from his duties.

Well, technically, it was more of a return to the Women’s Super League (WSL) side as he previously led the Man City ladies from 2013 to 2020, guiding them to a 2016 league title as well as a 2017 FA Women’s Cup victory. After leaving the English giants, he came to the United States to join Major League Soccer (MLS) based New York City FC as an assistant coach.

Of course, one can call it an in-house change, considering that NYCFC is also under the ownership of City Football Group. Fortunately, his American dream was made possible after he contributed to the club’s MLS Cup success in 2021. The following season, Cushing assumed the role of interim head coach midway through 2022 and was later appointed as the club’s permanent head coach.

In fact, Cushing ended up serving as NYCFC’s full-time head coach during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. But unfortunately, things didn’t pan out as he anticipated them to be, as he ended up missing out on the playoffs in 2023. On the brighter side, though, the team did manage to secure a sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference the following year.

Then again, one can’t deny how remarkable a choice Nick Cushing is. Whether he ticks all the boxes that Denver NWSL hopes to see in their ideal coach remains unknown, but he certainly checks the availability factor that the club’s general manager, Curt Johnson, pointed out earlier while speaking to ESPN.

Either way, this is quite a significant piece of news for Denver, which will be looking to make this update official as soon as possible. Not to mention how little time they have, even though many concrete developments have simultaneously taken place.

Denver NWSL needs to step up ahead of 2026 debut

We are at the halfway point of 2025, and there have been major yet slow developments for Denver NWSL. For starters, they have yet to reveal the official name, crest, and branding of the team, even though the colors seem to be in the shade of green. The $110 million expansion team also announced Jen Millet as their first-ever employee and team president, who formerly served as Chief Operating Officer of another NWSL expansion team, Bay FC.

Further developments have witnessed them announce plans to develop a $70 million facility and stadium, dedicated solely for the team. The stadium got approval for two “catalytic investments” from the Denver City Council after some initial challenges. Meanwhile, the rest of the process has witnessed Denver get some crucial investors on board, like 8x World Champion and American Skier Mikaela Shiffrin, or more recently, former American football quarterback Peyton Manning. Brick by brick, they are making significant developments.

Yet, it doesn’t bring them even closer towards the 15th NWSL expansion side, Boston Legacy FC, which has already unveiled their crest, name, and branding. They have even named Portuguese manager Filipa Patão as their first head coach, clearly making them ahead of the Denver NWSL. Then again, let’s see what either sides have more to offer from next season.