Ike Opara Departs SKC II and the Team has Just Six Players

It’s been a busy Thursday and Friday around Kansas City soccer. MLS announced a summer to spring schedule, Apple TV and MLS made some big changes, the KC Current made roster moves, Sporting Kansas City signed a player and, probably biggest of all, Vlatko Andonovski is no longer the coach of the KC Current.

You can be forgiven if you missed some big news for Sporting KC II. Former Sporting KC defender and interim SKC II head coach, Ike Opara, mutually agreed to part ways with the second team.

Ike originally joined Sporting KC II as an assistant coach under one his best friends, Benny Feilhaber. When Benny departed after last season, Ike stayed on as an assistant under Istvan Urbanyi. In August, Urbanyi was fired and Opara stepped in as interim coach.

Opara famously said he never wanted to be a coach and he just took the job under Feilhaber to do his friend a favor. He really seemed to grow into the role. The KC Soccer Journal got to talk to Opara after the final home game for Sporting KC II on September 28th.

When he was asked about what his future holds, he said, “honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve been enjoying coaching these guys for, what, seven weeks?” He continued, “That’s not my personality [to not know what is coming]. I like to live in black and white. I like to be objective, and this is a very subjective moment for me.”

When pressed on if it was up to him, and no outside forces could take away this job, Ike said, “I think there’s got to be a candid and honest conversation about what the future of the second team looks like, period. I’ve been here for four years, and I’ve seen four different ideas of the second team.” He went on to say it has to match his vision, but ultimately the club will have their own vision.

Two days after that conversation, David Lee was announced as the President of Soccer Operations in charge of all things soccer for Sporting KC. When manager editor, Thad Bell, asked Lee about the second team after the season, he wanted to focus on finding a coach and players for the first team. Adding that he had a little more time to deal with SKC II. Presumably Ike got to have that ‘vision’ conversation with Lee. Maybe it didn’t align. I can’t imagine Opara is heartbroken, since he said himself there are many options for him.

When we asked Opara about Benny “forcing” him to be a coach, he confirmed that Benny “peer pressured me. Look, I enjoyed being a head coach and I didn’t think that would be something I would enjoy.” He confirmed he enjoyed working with the younger players but stressed again, he doesn’t know what the future holds. “I’m a chameleon and I can adapt to many things. Whether I’m coaching or front office or doing something completely different out of soccer.”

Whatever it is Opara does, we wish him well. He’s always a joy to talk to and was quite the player to watch not too terribly long ago.

SKC II Roster

With the announcement of the offseason roster moves and contract options for Sporting KC II, the team is left with just six players. Three homegrown SKC Academy players are still under contract in goalkeeper Jacob Molinaro (18), midfielder Johann Ortiz (18) and forward Shane Donovan (18).

The team also picked up 2026 contract options for center back Pierre Lurot (23) and midfielders Blaine Mabie (22) and Gael Quintero (22). However, they declined options for Bryan Arellano, Nati Clarke, Anthony Samways, Beckham Uderitz, Hal Uderitz and David Zavala. Medgy Alexandre and Maouloune Goumballe were also out of contract.

Clarke may be a name that stands out. He once seemed destined for the first team, but an ugly challenge late in the 2024 season ended his year, and he never quite returned to form in 2025.

The remaining players were all short-term SKC Academy loanees who remain eligible to continue to be loaned up to the second team or potentially sign professional deals.

It also feels telling, that when we asked Ike Opara who is ready to make the next leap, he mentioned three names who all still remain on the team. It really adds to the “mutually parting ways,” as that can sometimes be a euphemism for “fired,” but it doesn’t seem like it here.

“Pierre Lurot has been very good,” started Opara. “I think he’s been excellent… I see a lot of upside in him.”

“Gael [Quintero] as well.” Opara said they’ve been playing him out of position at CB, but he’s really a midfielder and “I think he has an ability that can translate to MLS.”

“And Shane Donovan… I think the world of that kid.” Ike continued, “he can figure out the details of the game without big general principles.” Opara ended with one more word on Donovan, “quality.”

Whoever is the next Sporting KC II coach will have a lot of work to do to build out a roster for next year alongside Lee, Sporting Director Mike Burns, and any additional front office staff that may be added. Not unlike Lee and Burns have to do with the first team.

You can keep up with the Sporting KC II roster at our dedicated roster page.

The Future?

A name not on the roster, is an Academy player who made his debut in that last SKC II home game. Zamir Loyo Reynaga came on late and made his pro debut at just 14-years-old. That made him the youngest SKC II player ever, unseating current first team CB Ian James, and at the time landed him at sixth all-time in MLS Next Pro.

Opara joked with us that, at the same age, Ike was nowhere near ready to make his pro debut. He didn’t do that until he was 21 years old. At 14, Zamir has a long way to go in his career and life. He remains in the SKC Academy and can be loaned up in 2026 and beyond. There is no point in heaping pressure on the kid to be successful, but Opara ended with a simple line about him.

“He didn’t look out of place by any means.”

Hopefully we’ll see more of Zamir, and the plethora of talent that are working their way through the SKC Academy in 2026. And some of that vision Opara talked about.