Every season must come to an end. 

Sometimes, seasons end in triumph. Sometimes it’s a whimper. Other times, it’s a relief. 

Over the next few months, a lot of people in my life will ask, “How was RIFC’s season”? A pretty fair and kind question to ask someone who spends a large amount of his free time supporting a team and creating content about them. 

Evaluating a season is hard. It’s a body of work that’s messy, complicated and extremely narrative driven. We lean into our biases around players and performances. We remember those incredibly fun and sad days vividly but lose those moments that were just meh. 

Everyone’s expectations are different. Each signing will change your mind slightly. Each win has you dreaming. Each loss puts a dent in your confidence.  

There are obviously scenarios where the answer to this question is clear. As of today, Pittsburgh and Tulsa have a clear answer. Next weekend, one will have an even clearer one. I would assume a team like Birmingham also has a sad but clear answer to the question as well.

But what about a team like Rhode Island FC? Defending Eastern Conference Champions. Investing to bring back the core of the team. Adding a marquee signing. Opening a brand new stadium – one of the crown jewels of the league. 

As I’m sitting here on the plane back from Pittsburgh, I’m struggling to answer this question. 

RIFC were one of the strongest defenses in the league. They were also one of the worst offenses in it. 

The Tide made it to the Jagermeister Cup Semi-Finals. They were also embarrassed by their closest rival multiple times. 

The team made another deep playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals. They also regressed in the league in both points per game and playoff seeding.

They opened a brand new stadium with multiple sellouts of close to 11,000 people. They were shut out in 7 of the 15 league games at home.

They assembled an extremely talented and expensive roster. It never seemed to really click. 

They found the greatest pretzel vendor this blogger has ever tasted. There will be no rebuttal to this fact. 

So, back to the original question: is this season a success for Rhode Island FC? A brand new stadium, a cup Semi Final and a second straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals is a resume that most teams would kill for. And re-reading that sentence, I should be yelling a resounding yes. But that feels incomplete. 

The ups, the downs and the mehs of the season are important to remember when conducting your postmortem. As I reflect on the happy podcasts and the sad ones (this is unfortunately how my brain works now), I come back to everyone’s favorite Facebook relationship status – it’s complicated. 

Because while the final resume is incredible, I’ll always feel that this team had the potential for more. 

Potential is a hard thing to explain but we know it when we see it. On paper, this team was capable of beating anyone – and they showed in crunch time that it was possible. But on a week to week basis, they struggled to bring together the disparate parts of this roster into a consistent force to both accumulate points and entertain fans. 

And that’s the word that will stick with me when remembering the 2025 edition of RIFC. Because while the highs were high and the lows were low, there was always the potential for it to be better next week. It helped grow belief but also drove the disappointment that I’m feeling today.

We’ll dive into this question and more tonight on the Tide Talk show as we close the chapter on the 2025 season.