When FC Dallas brought Oscar Pareja back from Colorado to take over the head coaching role in January 2014, an instant impact was expected. They didn’t know it would happen that quickly.
Pareja’s first public day on the job at the 2014 Superdraft is the gift that keeps on giving as FCD selected forward Tesho Akindele, the 2014 Rookie of the Year, in a whirlwind ten minutes that saw Dallas trade from the #5 pick to the #10 pick and then back to #6 netting Akindele, an international spot and allocation money in a draft-day steal.
The selection and trades around it displayed everything you need to have a successful draft: a clear idea of who you want, extensive homework and a keen sense of timing.
“It is a chess game,” said Pareja. “First, you have to define who are the players that you want. Secondly you have to be able to react with quick decisions because you are against the clock and sometimes one pick changes the whole picture. It’s really tricky and the most important thing for me is just to define who’s the player that we want.”
In this case, Akindele was a forward Pareja had known about for quite some time, though he didn’t show his hand too early.
“It was a draft with a good group of strikers and Tesho was growing because I had the opportunity to see him in Colorado in a couple of scrimmages against School of Mines and also in my last week of work there I had a combine and Tesho was there,” said Pareja. “Every time I saw, him he was growing and then I saw him at the combine and that all fulfilled what I wanted.”
For Akindele, the picture was not so clear.
“The only thing he said to me that day was ‘what year are you born?’” said Akindele about the Colorado combine.
Now that FC Dallas had identified Akindele as a target they wanted, the challenge began to decipher where he would be available in the draft. A fantastic combine for the Colorado School of Mines product meant a potential late-round steal had become a player projected to go in the first round.
“Going into draft day, no one had told me I was going to be picked somewhere, so I had no idea,” said Akindele. “I didn’t even go to the draft, because I didn’t want to be there and not get drafted so I was at home with my parents and college friends.”
A trade from the #5 spot down to #10 was announced as FC Dallas was on the clock netting the club additional allocation money and an international spot. However, the opportunity presented itself to move back to #6 which FCD took advantage of snagging their guy in Akindele while still netting the club some allocation money and the international spot.
“I got a call from [Colorado School of Mines head coach] Frank Kohlenstein who asked if I was watching the draft and told me I was about to get drafted,” said Akindele. “I think at that time Dallas had the 10th pick, but then they just traded up so maybe one minute before I got drafted the coach called me.”
WATCH: FC DALLAS SUPERDRAFT PICK HIGHLIGHTS
Ask anyone about that draft day and they’ll smile about a pick that has worked out wondrously for all sides. Akindele would go on to win MLS Rookie of the Year while establishing himself as an integral piece of the FC Dallas attack having scored in both the 2014 and 2015 playoffs. The sky is the limit for the newly-minted Canadian international with a big 2016 ahead featuring MLS games, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and CONCACAF Champions League.
“Tesho has made us feel very proud about that decision and I think that FC Dallas has a great asset and person with him,” said Pareja. “He loves to work here and has developed a great belonging within the club and has turned out really well.”
