Hey folks! Joe Lowery here. I head up Backheeled – you may already know about us, thanks to the magnificent Ben Wright, who does great work here at SixOneFive and for Backheeled.
If not, here’s the rundown: Backheeled covers MLS in real depth every week. Earlier today, we dropped detailed season previews for all 30 MLS teams. And during the season? We’ll have weekly columns diving into the biggest stories from around the league, along with analysis of every club. Come subscribe and hang out with us, if you like.
Here’s our 2026 season preview for Nashville SC!
At Backheeled, we cover American soccer — and we do it by going one step further.
Where we left off last year
2025 season: 54 points, 6th in the Eastern Conference, 11th in MLS
Last year ended, of course, with Inter Miami in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. It's always Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami. They joined the league together. It feels like they play every week. I expect both clubs will be launched into the sun together at some point in the 28th century.
Bowing out in the postseason to the eventual champs is nothing for Nashville to hang their heads about, especially not when you consider how big of a slam dunk the rest of their 2025 was. They won the U.S. Open Cup, beating Austin FC on the road. They played a completely different — and more effective — style in BJ Callaghan's first full year at the helm, one that unlocked their Designated Players enough to do real damage. And they made themselves an attractive enough destination to attract some of the league's best talent. Last year was an unequivocal success.
What changed in the offseason
Notable arrivals:
- Cristian Espinoza, RW: Speaking of attracting some of the league’s best talent, Espinoza signed as a DP in Nashville over the winter. The former San Jose Earthquake – who only was available as a free agent because the Quakes forgot to pick up his option – was, perhaps, the best player in this year’s class. The Argentine averaged 14 goal contributions across his seven seasons on a bad San Jose team. Just what could he do as the right-sided midfielder in a clever Nashville team? The club’s top brass are eagerly awaiting an answer to that question.
- Maxwell Woledzi, CB: Nashville’s third signing from the Norwegian top-flight after Eddi Tagseth and Patrick Yazbek, Woledzi joins to help fill Walker Zimmerman’s shoes in the middle of the backline. He should be in line for major minutes in defense.
Notable departures:
- Walker Zimmerman, CB: With Nashville since the dawn of the club’s MLS era, Zimmerman departed the club in free agency this winter, signing with Toronto FC. The 32-year-old has still been effective when on the field, but has struggled with injuries to the point where he hasn’t played more than 2,000 minutes in a single season since 2022. Toronto weren’t wrong to sign him, of course, but neither were Nashville for thinking they could get more value out of a replacement for Zimmerman.
- Jacob Shaffelburg, W: Sent to LAFC in exchange for $1 million in GAM, the Canadian’s exit helped create more room for young Ahmed Qasem in the attack. Plus, with Espinoza’s arrival, Shaffelburg’s attacking production won’t be missed.
- Gastón Brugman, CM: After spending just a year in Nashville, Brugman’s contract option was declined. The 33-year-old played 1,300 minutes in Callaghan’s midfield, but those minutes may be earmarked for 20-year-old Matthew Corcoran this season.
- Jonathan Pérez, W: While Perez is a talented player, Nashville simply couldn’t turn down $3 million from Chivas to keep the 23-year-old winger with only 1,300 MLS minutes under his belt.
Why 2026 will be a success
Because a really, really good team added another star this winter.
Here's the list of teams that put up a better xG differential than Nashville SC last year: the Vancouver Whitecaps, LAFC, Inter Miami, and the Philadelphia Union.
Even without adding Cristian Espinoza, Nashville would have been one of the favorites for the biggest trophies this year thanks to an impressive core of returners. That they added one of the league's absolute best providers to feed, perhaps, the league's best strike partnership should terrify the rest of MLS. Espinoza finished in the 97th percentile in expected assisted goals last season among MLS attacking midfielders and wingers. He and Andy Nájar will roast opposing defenses from the right side.
An elite team got even better this winter, and trophies could follow.
Why it won’t be
Because there are still too many questions.
There aren't many questions, mind you. But in an Eastern Conference that features Inter Miami lurking in the shadows, even a couple of question marks could disrupt Nashville's trophy chances this season.
One of those questions? Goalkeeper. Joe Willis had his contract option declined before returning on a separate deal, clearing the way for 24-year-old Brian Schwake to take the reins between the posts. Schwake has never been a starter in MLS – or at any first-division level. Will he deliver? Elsewhere, will a new center back partnership take root? And will the non-Sam Surridge/Hany Mukhtar/Cristian Espinoza member of the team's attacking quartet produce?
Nashville SC have far, far fewer questions than almost every team in MLS. But that they have them at all could spoil this year given how high the bar has been raised down in Florida.
Backheeled Staff
How they’ll play
Though not inflexible in terms of his starting shape and not above being pragmatic, as we saw in the playoffs against Inter Miami, BJ Callaghan’s Nashville have become one of the league’s more proactive teams. Typically playing out of a 4-2-2-2 shape, Nashville SC finished inside the top 10 teams in MLS in short passes attempted and average vertical passing distance. Defensively, they pressed more than most, too.
This year, Callaghan wants to be even more aggressive with and without the ball. With a tactical foundation set from his first full season in charge, the 44-year-old wants to use his goalkeeper more in possession and play a higher defensive line. All told, Nashville should be a fun team to watch this year.
The star
I know I’m supposed to pick one player here — it says “the star” not “the stars” — but I truly, genuinely don’t think I can pick between Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar, and Cristian Espinoza. All three look like sure bets to hit at least 17 goal contributions this year. Surridge snagged 27 last year, thriving as the left-sided forward in a setup at least partially designed to help the Englishman feel comfortable. Mukhtar put up 24, delivering in a more ball-oriented system after calling for that very tactical change for years. Espinoza has just 12, but hit at least 17 in 2023 and 2024 and will now have the luxury of playing with multiple elite partners.
This attack should be filthy good, man.
The young player to watch
In a serious way, Nashville SC are interested in developing young players for the first time since the club joined MLS for the 2020 season. Homegrown center back Chris Applewhite, now just 18, debuted last year. Matthew Corcoran, now 20, started in the playoffs against Miami. Thomas Williams, a 21-year-old center back, joined via a trade from Orlando City earlier this winter. Callaghan is willing to put young players on the field and the club sees the value of supporting that endeavor, so expect more on the young player front in the future.
For now, Corcoran is the one to watch. The No. 8 is smooth on the ball and didn’t look much off the pace, even against Miami.
Depth chart
Vague standings prediction
Between 1st and 4th in the East.
If everything goes right for Nashville SC, they’ll become a swashbuckling, star-studded attacking outfit that still crushes defensively thanks to a hard-working double pivot and center back group en route to finishing atop the East. If everything goes wrong for Nashville, they’ll be a great attacking team and a pretty darn good defensive outfit. They're destined for home field advantage in the postseason.
Deep-in-the-weeds prediction
No team's right side will create more than Nashville's.
Between Espinoza and Najar, who finished third among right backs in expected assisted goals last year, as per FBref, Nashville SC have a couple of killers on the right side. With Najar's ability to tuck inside and Espinoza's comfort delivering from the halfspace or the wing, the two will form a best-in-class chance creation machine that outpaces the other 29 right sides in MLS.
