The Colorado Rapids announced the preseason roster and full coaching and technical staff on Tuesday as the club reported for preseason in Florida, offering the first clear picture of what new head coach Matt Wells will work with in year one of his first-ever head coaching role. The roster has a healthy mix of new signings and Rapids 2 standouts to pair with returning first-team players.
Wells and two of his new assistant coaches will have to wait to join the team in Florida, though, for receipt of their ITCs and P-1 Visas. So will two players: new midfield signing Hamzat Ojediran and 2025 MLS SuperDraft pick and 2025 MAC Hermann Award winner Donavan Phillip.
The preseason roster:
Goalkeepers: Adam Beaudry, Zackory Campagnolo (Rapids 2), Nicolas Hansen, Zack Steffen
Defenders: Reggie Cannon, Noah Cobb, Lucas Herrington (new signing), Rob Holding, Ian Murphy, Keegan Rosenberry, Jackson Travis, Sam Vines
Midfielders: Paxten Aaronson, Josh Atencio, Cole Bassett, Ali Fadal, Wayne Frederick, Ted Ku-DiPietro, Alexis Manyoma, Hamzat Ojediran (new signing), Connor Ronan, Sydney Wathuta (Rapids 2)
Forwards: Alex Harris, Bryce Jamison (new signing), Mamadou Billo Diop (Rapids 2), Rafael Navarro, Dante Sealy (new signing), Kimani Stewart-Baynes, Darren Yapi, Donavan Phillip (2025 MLS SuperDraft pick)
There are a few notable absences from the roster. Free agent midfielder Oliver Larraz is still testing European waters and is unlikely to return. Free agent winger Calvin Harris seemed a bit more likely to re-sign with the Rapids, but his absence from preseason narrows those odds.
Lastly, left back Rafael Santos was omitted after providing a huge offensive spark as a wingback toward the end of 2025. His contract option for 2026 was declined by the club in November, but it wouldn’t have been surprising to see him re-sign to a longer, more expensive guaranteed contract. He proved to be a bit of a liability defensively, which may be why he’s not in Wells’s plans moving forward.
Aside from Wells’ appointment, the club’s coaching and technical staff remained mostly intact, aside from two outgoing and two incoming assistant coaches. Former assistant coach Chris Little left the club officially on Monday to join Nashville SC’s staff as an assistant. Ian Sarachan, another former Rapids assistant, took Butler University’s men’s soccer head coaching position.
That opened the door for Wells to bring two Premier League assistants to Commerce City: former AFC Bournemouth assistant Alastair Harris and former Tottenham assistant Rob Burch. They’ve all overlapped at different points in their coaching careers, but they all worked together at Fulham under Scott Parker from 2019-2021.
Burch most recently served as Tottenham’s first-team goalkeepers coach, but also brings a high level of set-piece coaching to Colorado. He’s a similar coaching profile to current Rapids goalkeepers and set pieces coach Chris Sharpe, who remains on staff. Sharpe will remain as the club’s only goalkeepers coach, but will focus mostly on defensive set pieces while Burch takes over the offensive portion. The Rapids were solid defensively on set pieces last year, but struggled heavily offensively.
During his time at Bournemouth, Harris “was responsible for the physical output of the squad, specifically in relation to the pressing element of the club’s game model,” according to the club’s press release. He’ll do much of the same with the Rapids, who aim to dominate the ball and win back possession early and often. If Wells’ first media availability was any indicator, neither he nor Harris will be kind to the roster’s legs when it comes to conditioning this preseason.
The rest of the technical staff are returners: assistant coach Elliot Prost, first-team analysts Matt Gordon and Padraic Farrell, and development coach Drew Moor.
Colorado has four scheduled preseason matches between now and February 14. First on the docket is against Nashville on Jan. 23. The Rapids will also face the Columbus Crew and Orlando City SC. Their second opponent for a match on Jan. 29 has yet to be announced.
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