Knowles: Everywhere Jennings Goes, He Scores
The Rowdies are looking to rebuild for the 2023 season because in comparative terms, the previous season was disappointing. Only participating in the Eastern Conference Final, as opposed to winning it, will do that to a club used to success. Neill Collins and his staff have come out of the preseason gates at full tilt by making several new statement signings. One player they hope will lead to much offensive output is Cal Jennings.
The USL Championship can be a tough league to play in. With little hope of having a team promoted, minus several hundreds of millions of dollars, individual players will have to earn their way to the top division by joining a team in Major League Soccer. Lots of players involved do have this destination in mind. Unfortunately, it’s not yet a well-trod path.
Despite this, some USL players have earned their shot at the big time. New Rowdies forward Jennings is one such case. In MLS, his stats did not show off how impressive a footballer he is, though. A meager nine appearances with zero goals belies what is a very strong finishing touch. What may be a disappointment to the player could now lead to an even more important opportunity. Jennings will want to settle into a team with a much better record than his previous ones in the second division, and it’ll be important to embed himself somewhere with a distinct playing style. Rather than simply playing reactive soccer all the time, having the chance to establish himself as a player capable of doing specific things for a specific tactic will give outside scouts a real idea of what kind of player he is – and what kind of player he isn’t.
Before any of that, let’s assess the level where his new Tampa Bay team plays and look at how it’s gone for him here. According to Transfermarkt, Cal Jennings has made fifty-nine appearances in the USL Championship. Here, he has thirty goals and ten assists. All of that averages out to 148 minutes per goal. Still more context is needed here because, resulting from his stints in MLS, he has not had a stable club situation as a professional. Drafted out of college by FC Dallas, Jennings was released and went on to start his post-college life at Memphis 901. He scored nine goals in his fourteen outings for just that club. A keen-eyed reader might recognize that as better than a goal every other game.
Before originally signing with Indy Eleven, Jennings took his second shot at MLS when he joined Los Angeles FC in early 2021. It was over this contract with LAFC that he made those nine goalless appearances at the top level in American soccer. However, this period is also when he saw his best pro-level production, going out on loan multiple times with Las Vegas Lights, partner club and youth affiliate of the Black and Gold. While playing alongside mostly academy kids, Jennings went on to score twenty-one goals in his forty-five games there.
Lest you think this could be a one-off, we should take one more step back in his soccer career and look at his time in the NCAA. After winning many awards during his youth career, Jennings moved on to play for the University of Central Florida. While I’m sure Rowdies fans might initially bristle at any mention of a team from Orlando, his record was yet again very impressive. Jennings scored forty-six goals in his four years with the Golden Knights. Now UCF is not usually known as a powerhouse on the men’s soccer side of things. Before Jennings’ time at the school, they hadn’t made a men’s NCAA tournament since 2011. Upon his arrival, however, they made two further tournaments and became regular season champions in their conference twice as well.
Jennings was, of course, not the sole reason that UCF was able to do this. (A new coach with a better ability to recruit than his predecessors might be the largest factor.) But, soccer is a game won by goals. Scoring forty-six over the course of sixty-four games is necessarily going to impact a team’s chances to do well. His accomplishments were such that, in 2019, Jennings was named a Hermann Trophy semifinalist at the end of the season, the award given annually to the best men’s college soccer player.
Now that we’ve established almost exhaustively what Jennings has done before 2023, let’s look to the present. What can Rowdies fans expect from him when he lines up in his new colors? We should obviously be hopeful for many, many goals. Jennings has an ability to score from multiple different positions on the field. He’s capable of doing the poacher’s job and getting on the end of crosses into the box. First-time finishes are not outside of the realm here.
That being said, his influence often extends far beyond poaching. The stereotype of a lackadaisical striker just waiting around for this chance to put the game to bed need not apply. Jennings routinely inserts himself into the play leading up to a goal and will look to facilitate the buildup as best he can. He can play with his back to goal, even if he doesn’t have the size of previous players who have done this for the Rowdies like Steeven Dos Santos. He can also go on the dribble, despite not having the same technical ability of your usual tricky wingers. While he may not be elite in these particular aspects of the game, opponents would do well not to underestimate him.
To demonstrate this, I want to go back to September 3, 2022. I was reminded of this goal from a member of the Rowdies’ staff on Twitter – thank you, Jake – shortly after the signing was announced. Despite this game ending 6-1 in favor of the team from Tampa Bay, the one Las Vegas point was a sight to behold. In the sixtieth minute, Jennings received the ball roughly at the halfway line. He immediately started running towards goal despite the distance. Relatively unchallenged until he gets to the box, a first defender steps forward and ends up on the ground before getting close. Jennings sees his space is being closed down and fires a shot into the upper right corner of the net. At that point, he made the score 3-1.
Jennings should continue to line up roughly as a center forward in the Rowdies’ system. What formation shapes up around him remains to be seen. But, with the emergence of a roving Leo Fernandes in 2022, the idea of him having a regular, top-class striker to work 1-2s with should be nauseating for defenders. If one decides they don’t want to run at you with the ball, the other is perfectly capable of it, so opponents will have to track both of them carefully. This will certainly lead to acres of space opening up as they swarm to shut down whichever runner does have the ball. How wingers are incorporated into this dynamic, and who will be driving the ball forward, will determine our success over the course of the season.
Jennings seems to be a most potent tip of the spear for our attack, though. As long as he can swap the Black and Gold of most of his career for a far nicer Green and Gold, this move should have Rowdies fans excited for the season to come.
