Deep into stoppage time in Wednesday's US Open Cup match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, New York City FC head coach brought on Drew Bariera, an 18-year-old defender who came up through the club's academy. Things didn't go as planned – the Hounds headed in the game-winner one minute later – but with that substitution, Bariera made his First Team debut, becoming the 12th NYCFC Homegrown to play with the First Team, and the fourth see minutes this year.
Earlier in the game, Jansen brought on Max Murray, a 23-year-old center-back from the University of Vermont who was selected in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. When he stepped on the field, Murray became the second draft pick to debut this year.
With those two moves, Jansen set a new mark among New York City head coaches for providing debuts to Homegrowns and MLS SuperDraft Picks. Just 12 weeks into his tenure, Jansen has given First Team minutes to four Homegrowns and two draft picks.
New York City FC | Homegrown and MLS Superdraft Debuts by Head Coach
| Head Coach | Homegrown | MLS SuperDraft |
|---|---|---|
| Pascal Jansen | 4 | 2 |
| Nick Cushing | 3 | 2 |
| Ronny Deila | 3 | 2 |
| Domé Torrent | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Vieira | 2 | 2 |
| Jason Kreis | 0 | 2 |
To put that in context, former head coaches Nick Cushing and Ronny Deila both debuted three Homegrown and two SuperDraft players, and both did it over the course of their two-plus seasons in charge of the team.
Janesn's decision to provide First Team minutes to so many new players is due, in part, to the young and imbalanced roster he inherited when he took over the squad. As John Baney noted in the opinion piece published in these pages yesterday, "NYCFC's winter transfer business was defined by departures, leaving Jansen to embark on his maiden MLS voyage with a shorthanded crew, many of whom are too young to legally buy a beer at Billy’s Sports Bar."
But it also reflects New York City's maturing Homegrown system, which was turbo-charged with the arrival of sporting director David Lee after the end of the 2019 season. His predecessor, Claudio Reyna, signed just four Homegrowns in five years. That's not a strong showing for a soccer-rich region like the Tri-State Area, although you can't fault the pedigree of the players he added: Reyna signed James Sands, Joe Scally, Justin Haak, and Tayvon Gray.
In his six years as sporting director, Lee has signed 13 Homegrowns. Three of those were added this year, including 17-year-old Seymour Reid, who technically signed with NYCFC II at the start of this season and won't officially join the senior squad until 2026. Reid made his First Team debut in the 0-0 draw with Columbus Crew, and also saw minutes on Wednesday night.
The club also seems more comfortable integrating MLS SuperDraft picks into the First Team. Delia gave debuts to just two draft picks, Luis Barraza and Vuk Latinovich, and neither saw regular minutes when he was head coach. It was different under Cushing, who turned second-round draft pick Kevin O'Toole into an everyday starter, and who was poised to give Malachi Jones a prominent position in the lineup before he was sidelined with a broken leg last June.
We're still in the early days of Jansen, but he already debuted two SuperDraft selections.
Third-round draft pick Nico Cavallo has made seven appearances and two starts in all competitions, providing depth at left-back behind O'Toole. As for Reid, he is the first attacker selected in the draft to play with the First Team since Jonathan Lewis made his MLS debut in 2017. Reid now has two appearances with the First Team this year, both off the bench. He also has four goals in nine starts for NYCFC II.
Notably, strikers MD Myers (selected in 2023) and Taylor Calheira (selected in 2024) never appeared with the First Team despite becoming leading goal-scorers with NYCFC II in MLS NEXT Pro — the 19 goals Myers scored in 2023 made him joint-winner of the Golden Boot. They now play for teams in the second-tier USL Championship, where they are once again among the league's top goal-scorers.
It will be tricky for Reid to see more playing time. Because he is signed to NYCFC II, he can only join the First Team on a Short-Term Agreement, and is limited to two appearances in Major League Soccer matches — he has one left. But both the US Open Cup and the Leagues Cup don't count against that total, which means Reid could get more First Team minutes later this year.
