The Interview: Todd Dunivant

The Sacramento Republic president/GM on meeting KC in the US Open Cup semifinals and trying to become the first non-MLS team to win the Open Cup since 1999

Courtesy Sacramento Republic

Todd Dunivant won five MLS Cup titles and nearly claimed a sixth if the LA Galaxy hadn’t lost to Real Salt Lake in 2009 on penalties. For the past four years he has been an executive with Sacramento Republic, the USL team that’s two games away from making history in the U.S. Open Cup.

The entirety of the written interview below is reserved for paid subscribers. As always, you can still get the entire free audio version of my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to go for your pods.

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Grant Wahl:

Our guest now is Todd Dunivant, the president and general manager of Sacramento Republic, which meets Sporting Kansas City in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals this Wednesday at 10:30 pm Eastern. Todd, congrats on everything you're doing, and thanks for coming on the show.

Todd Dunivant:

Thank you, Grant. Good to be here.

Todd Dunivant on the team salary difference between Sacramento and the LA Galaxy team it beat in the Open Cup: “It's safe to say there’s probably a 20x multiple involved there. And that is what it is. The fun part is for our guys, they get to go out and try to show why they belong and prove themselves. That’s why we play the game.”

Grant Wahl:

So I'm going to start with something maybe a little different. We'll get into the Open Cup semis here in a second, but you won five MLS Cup titles in your playing career. And I know that José Mourinho used to call Arsene Wenger a "specialist in failure," which I always thought was not true and kind of uncool, but I think it's kind of fair to call you a specialist in winning. And I'm wondering what sort of characteristics you've seen in winning operations that maybe don't exist everywhere in the soccer world?

Todd Dunivant:

Wow, great, deep question to start off. And I appreciate that ... That should be the new tagline for me. No, honestly, the key to success for me has always been the collective and the team. And that's ultimately what I love about sports. That's what I found out and figured out why I love soccer, is surrounding yourself with great people. And I was a part of some really great teams. I had great teammates, great coaches, and that's always been my key to success. 

I was a left back. Often didn't get noticed. But did my job well and allowed others to do their jobs. And it sounds simple, but having that plus a competitive drive, a little resiliency, some perseverance, all those things end up helping. But being part of different championship teams, there's different makeups to each of those teams and each of those runs, every single one is a little bit different. But I think ultimately when it comes down to it, having that focus in the critical moments and being able to step up to the plate when a lot's on the line, I think that's always the differentiator.

Grant Wahl:

And what sort of different perspectives do you have on all of that now that you've been an executive for several years, as opposed to the player's perspective?

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