There are a few points in the Seattle Sounders’ young MLS history that seem quite pivotal — the vote on the name, hiring Sigi Schmid, losing Steve Zakuani to injury, DeAndre Yedlin exploding onto the global scene, signing Clint Dempsey, signing Garth Lagerwey, signing Jordan Morris, firing Sigi Schmid, hiring Brian Schmetzer. All of these, in some way, led to Seattle winning the 2016 MLS Cup.
Only a couple modern expansion teams make a splash like hiring a Hall of Famer to run the squad (Atlanta with Tata, LAFC with Bradley).