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Matt Wells didn't need to reconstruct the Colorado Rapids. He needed to rebuild their confidence.
As competitive as MLS tends to be, it's only as strong as the teams within it. If the 2026 season has demonstrated anything in its early stages, it's that any club can carve out success in the right moments. For Wells, who is guiding the Rapids in his first head coaching role, getting his squad to recognize that quality within themselves has been as demanding as conquering the Rocky Mountains that tower over Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
From the moment the 38-year-old joined the club, he recognized the talent and potential within his roster. Yet the players themselves didn't all share that same conviction.
"The biggest challenge has been convincing the guys of that truth and that belief from day one," Wells, in his first MLS season following a recent stint as an assistant coach and academy coach with Tottenham Hotspur, tells Sports Illustrated.
"We had an incredible group of players in terms of obedience, but I just had a sense that, in their heart of hearts, they didn't truly believe, in the early stages, that that was feasible or possible ... Now I feel that we're in a place where that doesn't exist anymore."
Undefeated at home… and still nowhere near our ceiling 😤
Go inside the locker room as Matt Wells addresses the squad after a dominant win over Houston.#Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/VAcCyaLw0b
The Rapids, who sit sixth in the Western Conference with 12 points through seven matches, now prepare to face their toughest test of the club's 30th anniversary season, welcoming reigning MLS Cup champions Inter Miami before a crowd of over 60,000 at Empower Field at Mile High, the home of the NFL's Denver Broncos.
And while the Lionel Messi-led side, navigating the fallout from Javier Mascherano's exit from the managerial position, presents a monumental challenge, the Rapids can lean on their growing sense of confidence and Wells' ambitions.
Reaching where they are mentally has been a gradual journey, not unlike the acclimatization process climbers go through when tackling Colorado's high-altitude summits. It starts with a small step forward, then a step back, before pushing higher.
For the Rapids, that initial push came in preseason with a notable victory against Orlando City—a team that performed well in the Eastern Conference in 2025, despite a sluggish start to 2026—and a defeat against Seattle Sounders in the season opener, despite a commendable showing.
Most recently, a commanding 6–2 victory over a formidable Houston Dynamo side has fueled optimism heading into a match likely dominated by Miami pink in the stands, despite Colorado's home-field advantage.
"You have to be all in," Wells says. "You have to be all in on the press and all in on the build-up, because if you try and dip your toe in, you're going to end up playing a style of play, but not fully be committed. If we don't fully believe in it, we're going to look like a real sterile team, and we're very susceptible to getting beat."
Drawing on Tottenham's Belief
The second-youngest head coach in MLS may be only seven games into his first top-level position, but he has been involved in coaching since retiring from a brief playing career at the age of 20.
During that time, he served as an assistant coach at Fulham, AFC Bournemouth, Club Brugge and Tottenham, gaining invaluable experience under some of the sport's most accomplished and innovative managers.
When it comes to belief, much of it stems from a brief overlap with former Spurs boss and current USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino, who held the top role at the north London club while Wells worked in the academy.
"I loved Pochettino's mentality of turning Tottenham into a big team that saw itself as a big team," Wells says, drawing parallels with Colorado's situation, after the club ranked 15th out of 30 teams in total salary expenditure in the 2025 MLSPA Salary report.
"I've related to that in convincing these young guys that we're a big team. We don't have to go on the pitch and just survive. We can dominate games because what's the point of getting out of bed to turn up to work to try and react to an opponent?"
New era. New standard.
Seven games in and Matt Wells already cleared the old mark 💥 #Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/0duQYeclOC
Although things have not gone the same way for Spurs of late—they currently sit in the Premier League's relegation zone with six games remaining—the belief and psychology instilled during the Pochettino era proved pivotal.
Meanwhile, Wells' arrival in MLS followed Ange Postecoglou's tenure at Tottenham, which, despite concluding with a 17th-place Premier League finish, saw him honor a promise of delivering silverware with the 2025 Europa League title.
"Every day [Postecoglou] spoke about winning, he was desperate to win and transmitted that to the players, and told the players that we'll win a trophy," Wells says of the Australian manager.
"He was very inspirational in terms of a winning mindset, and I loved that we're very different in terms of the method and the approach behind the game on a global level, of wanting to have the ball, wanting to attack and wanting to really press the game constantly. We both saw the game in a very similar way."
MLS Cup Dreams Take Next Step vs. Inter Miami
Channeling Postecoglou's winning drive, Wells had one message for his players in a passionate speech following the victory over Houston: "We can win MLS Cup."
It's a bold declaration, to say the least.
Despite the star on the Rapids' crest—one set for a rebrand—they've missed out on six of the last nine MLS Cup playoffs and have only reached the league's pinnacle once, back in 2010, a vastly different era for both MLS and U.S. soccer.
Yet the mindset is rapidly changing, driven by a relatively strong start, the success of clubs outside the top-spending bracket, and the boldness that comes with an average squad age of 23.9 years, the third youngest in the league.
"There's no charity here. I want to win the MLS Cup, and I want to win the U.S. Open Cup," he says, having called upon players as young as 15 this season. "I love the energy that comes with youth and the fearlessness that often goes with it, but it is not always the case."
Harnessing the Inter Miami Spotlight
On Saturday, as Wells prepares to lead his youthful squad in front of a 60,000-plus crowd at the NFL stadium, he hopes it can serve as the next milestone in building belief in the dream of winning trophies. If his young players can secure a result against the formidable likes of Messi and company, it only reinforces his vision and ambitions.
"The only crime we can commit against Miami is that we don't turn up as ourselves," he says. "I want our guys to play with big balls and big personalities. Take the ball in precious situations, play our patterns and make sure we make them jump, which is what our football is based on ... Our football is way too risky to play with nerves."
While Wells may be a newcomer to MLS, leading a club well outside the traditional spotlight, there is more reason than ever to believe. Not only does he have a young squad with a dynamic young manager at the helm, but it represents a new chapter of a project in a parity-driven league where, even amid recent shifts, every team has a genuine shot at winning on any given day.
The Rapids are hoping Saturday swings in their direction. If it does, belief against elite opposition won't just be an aspiration — it will become part of an ever-growing identity.