Brandon Vazquez envisions "bright, bright future" with Austin FC

Brandon Vazquez has lived plenty of experiences in his career.

It all started with daily early-morning commutes from his family’s home in Chula Vista, California across the US-Mexico border to academy sessions at Club Tijuana in his adolescence. And it later led him to Atlanta United, FC Cincinnati and points across MLS, with key stops in Chile for a FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he was the United States’ leading scorer in a side that featured future stars like Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Alex Zendejas almost a decade ago, and CF Monterrey, where he spent the past year battling tenaciously for playing time on arguably the most talent-rich, expensively-assembled squad in the Western Hemisphere.

But he’d never had a moment quite like the one that greeted him outside the Fairmont Hotel in chilly downtown Austin on Monday night.

Welcome party

One sleep before the big striker was officially unveiled as Austin FC’s club-record signing, a reported $10 million transfer from Rayados which has instantly transformed the vibes around the Verde’s offseason, he was serenaded by flocks of adoring supporters who served up the same drums, horns, flares and songs they use to turn Q2 Stadium into a noisy spectacle on gamedays.

This time, it was all just for him.

“Yeah, that was unbelievable,” he told MLSsoccer.com during a one-on-one conversation a day later. “Walking out, all the fans singing and cheering and dancing; I got to take photos with everybody, and it was great. It was amazing.”

Even Pollo, the luminous green rubber chicken rendered a fan talisman in a manifestation of the city’s treasured “Keep Austin Weird” ethos, made an appearance, tossed into Vazquez’s hands as he greeted the crowd and expressed his gratitude, a grin plastered across his face.

He won an MLS Cup and a US Open Cup in ATL; a Supporters’ Shield and a Best XI nod in Cincy. Yet across his winding soccer journey to this point, the 26-year-old couldn’t recall anything quite like it.

“No, I don't think so. I don't think so,” said Vazquez after a moment’s thought. “Monterrey’s fans are crazy in the aspect of, like, at the games there's flares and smoke and chanting and it's a crazy atmosphere. But no, I never got the chance to really connect with them like I did with the fans last night.

“Man, sometimes I have to take a step back from my position right now, from living in the moment, and just look at the whole picture, and it's like, wow, it's incredible. It's incredible. It's been an insane journey. It's been really complicated, it's had its ups and its downs, and I'm just grateful to be here.”

Return to the States

That fervent welcome, and the huge expectations underlying it, explain much about why Vazquez is crossing the border once again for the next phase of his career.

He spent so much of the past decade, including and especially those two seasons in Nuevo León, grinding for every minute, to prove himself – again – capable of being the centerpiece of a top-tier attack.

A reported $7.5 million move like the one he made from Cincinnati to Rayados last winter would seem to underline his value. Yet he was back in the upstart’s role among a constellation of attacking talent at mighty Monterrey, a wealthy club where fans and management alike expect victory, preferably in style, every time out. He will unquestionably be The Man for ATX, a young club desperate to climb back into the MLS elite, a level they’ve tasted in just one of their four seasons to date.

“I enjoyed playing down in Mexico a lot. The team was great, the stadium was great, the talent was great. But yes, this opportunity came up at Austin, I saw how much interest they had in me, how much they valued me,” said Vazquez.

“Going to play in Mexico this past year was definitely an experience,” he explained. “I really enjoyed it. It was a great group of guys that I had there at Rayados. The training facilities were great, their whole staff was amazing. The stadium was incredible, it's world-famous, it's beautiful, it looks like a UFO. I was very grateful to be there and get that experience and keep growing as a player and as a person. I think it's important to get these experiences so that you just keep growing as an athlete, as a person, as a professional, and I feel like I captured that a lot down there. I enjoyed my moment there, but I thought ultimately I wanted to be back here, and this situation was just perfect for me.”

He knows that the passion of those adoring fans can cut in both directions, that both his price tag and the underperformance of the strikers who came before him in central Texas raises the stakes. It’s just the kind of situation he hungered for over those lean years as an up-and-comer at Xolos and ATLUTD.

“I don't mind the pressure. I put the pressure on myself, to be honest, probably more than anybody else. And sometimes that can be good, sometimes not so good, but at the end of the day, I know my qualities, and I know what I can bring to the team,” he said.

“When I was 18 years old in Atlanta, sitting behind Josef Martínez, and he would score 34 goals a season, I mean, how am I supposed to get an opportunity there? Of course he's going to play every minute of every game. So if I'm a late bloomer, it's because I play in the hardest position, or one of the hardest positions to play in this sport, and having somebody like that in front of you [makes] your chances of succeeding maybe a little bit more slim. So yeah, I had to be patient for a while to get my opportunity, and when I got it, I was prepared for it, and I took it.”

USMNT connections

With four goals in 11 caps for the US men’s national team, where he’s competing for opportunities with Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun and several other No. 9s as the 2026 North American World Cup looms just 18 months away, Vazquez’s international career is intertwined with this move.

First, the USMNT’s recent visits to Q2 and the St. David's Performance Center piqued his initial curiosity about the city, organization and culture. Then there was his history with ATX’s new boss Nico Estévez, a former assistant on the national team staff, who Vazquez calls “a coach that I love to play under” whose arrival in the Texas capital “made things a lot easier” as the transfer took shape, elevating Austin ahead of other MLS clubs pursuing a deal.

“I've always known it was special, and recently, coming here with the national team in October, I finally got to be at the training ground, use the facilities,” Vazquez noted. “During that time, I really thought, ‘Wow, this place is incredible.’ And playing at the stadium, the pitch was great, the fans were amazing.

“So when this interest came up, it was just one of those decisions where, is this a good step in my career? Is this a good place for me and my family? Am I going to fit into the system? Do I know the coach? Everything kind of checked off the boxes, and my wife and I were very interested in this opportunity. So it was one of those things where, yeah, it just made sense.”

So much so that he says the sudden swirl of uncertainty around playmaker Sebastián Driussi, the chief star of the Verde’s brief existence to date who now is reportedly a top target of his former club River Plate, had no bearing on his decision.

“I have no idea what's going on there, but it doesn't affect my choice at all,” said Vazquez. “I know the hunger this organization has to make things better, so regardless of what happens, I know we have a competitive group, and I know this organization is trying to build a competitive group so that whoever's here, whoever's not, I think it's going to be a great team regardless.”

His checklist included conversations with the new USMNT boss about how this change might affect his prospects on that front.

“I spoke with Mauricio Pochettino about exactly that, and he gave me the reassurances that if I'm scoring goals, if I'm performing well, I'm going to be getting called into the national team, and I'm going to be part of that squad,” said Vazquez. “So it's up to me to just perform, score goals, and to be the best prepared I can be, to be with the national team.”

That might signal a shift from his outlook under Gregg Berhalter, who often spoke highly of Vazquez but didn’t much factor him into his plans towards the end of his tenure.

The target man played just 58 minutes across three matches for the USMNT in 2024. Yet it’s noteworthy that in a conversation involving him, Estévez, Pochettino and members of both technical staffs, all agreed that the national team is familiar enough with Vazquez to allow him to focus on his transition to ATX instead of taking part in the January camp that just kicked off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this week.

Home sweet home

Vazquez is also a father now, as he and his wife Jessie welcomed their son Luca into the world almost a year ago. That’s prompted all sorts of life changes and inevitably informed his approach to this transfer, too. He and Jessie saw Austin not just as his logical next professional chapter, but as a place to raise a family. Their initial experiences in town have validated that and then some.

“Every single fan that I've met here has been so friendly, has been so kind and welcoming – like even thinking about my family, giving me gifts for my baby, for my wife. People here are just so nice,” he revealed. “So if they see me out in public, please do come say hi.”

The Verde hope he can strike up a quick rapport with fleet-footed Ghanaian winger Osman Bukari, a pricey summer arrival whose service will be key, and believe veteran holding midfielder Ilie Sánchez can bring instant order to the engine room. Nonetheless, the question remains: Did ATX really overhaul their roster comprehensively enough to make a dramatic turnaround from last year’s dour 10th-place finish in the Western Conference?

Amid the multiple moving parts that will influence that, Vazquez is not of a mind to wait around on a slow-burning rebuild.

“Of course, I’ve got to look towards the sky, man,” he said. “I’ve got to dream. And to me, in my head, with the group and the kind of players that we have, we can have some great success. So if we're on top of it, if we're keeping each other accountable, if we're training the way we're supposed to, I think this group has a bright, bright future ahead of us.”