Toronto FC know what their first step needs to be this offseason.

“Set our priorities,” underlined TFC General Manager Jason Hernandez on Thursday. “We understand players with expiring contracts or options and those decisions to be taken, but it's actually a little more high level than that: understanding what we want to be and who we want to be.”

“Prior to John [Herdman] telling you exactly the player profiles and the targets and the positions that we're going to go for – certainly those lists will be there,” he continued. “It's more strategically to understand who we're going to be as a club.”

“Around the world there's some clubs, when they step on the pitch, you know exactly what that's going to be year over year, regardless of the moment of the roster, regardless of the manager. There's a strategic vision and an identity for the club as a whole,” Hernandez laid out. “When I circle on the calendar and I see Philadelphia coming to town, I know what that's going to look like; same with LAFC, regardless of the manager and the GM at the time.”

“Call it the high level, big picture vision of what the club looks like is the first priority,” he added. “And from there we'll be able to filter down to exactly the players, the personalities, and the people that are going to be joining us from now on.”

The club has some time before the first decisions are due. Wednesday, November 27 is the MLS deadline to exercise contract options.

“We’re going to take that time,” said MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley. “By that time, we'll know exactly what our identity is going to be and that will trigger every move that we make. It will be something that will resonate through the entire organization. It's what we'll believe in.”

“You can't win without a unified vision,” he continued. “And you can't win without a chemistry and culture.”

“We made some progress last year. John Herdman made some progress when he came in, Jason made some progress, but at the end of the day, we are 30W-75L-31T over the last four years and we've not made the playoffs,” Pelley added. “This should be a storied franchise like it was and as a result it is time to rebuild. That's what we're in the midst of doing. I don't have all the answers at this particular time, but it has started now.”

It began well before the season ended in fact.

Marco Neppe, formerly of Bayern Munich, was brought in as a consultant to do a full organizational review.

“Marco was the former head of scouting there, he became the Technical Director, he had enormous success,” introduced Pelley. “What we were looking for was a completely different perspective.”

“He spent a couple of months looking at all aspects of our business and his number one observation would be that the club lacks an identity – what kind of football we want to play, what kind of football is conducive to MLS – and that should dictate every strategy that you follow, from your academy to your scouting department,” he laid out. “He worked incredibly close, we were very transparent in everything that we provided him, and he made us think differently. I was really encouraged by the way he and Jason worked, the way they talked, and the way that we needed to move forward.”

“I was in Munich a couple of weeks ago and [Marco] took me through his presentation, and it was enlightening,” Pelley said. “And now Jason and I are discussing how we implement some of his concepts – not all of them, but some of them.”

It was an opportunity to blend external football knowledge with lessons learned in MLS.

“Marco and I got to spend a lot of time together over a two-month stretch,” began Hernandez. “It was a very fruitful time in being able to take a step back and get some fresh eyes and a fresh perspective on my world, my life.”

“If I take my playing days, I’m around the 20-year mark. I can speak to MLS – MLS is what I know,” he continued. “I know what I know and I don't know what I don't know and so there's a level to which Marco's experiences, how he's worked, where he's worked, some of the important parts of how he's had to approach the game and different things that he's noticed. A sharing of best practices will go a long way for us.”

“Keith and I are going to spend a lot of time understanding what is apples to apples, what can we apply and what resonates versus what doesn't,” Hernandez balanced. “MLS is a unique beast as far as the global landscape – we live in a very unique system. We’re going to glean as much valuable information and look to apply it.”

The overarching goal heading into 2025 is to define and establish the team’s core identity. An ethos, a way of doing things, that guides every aspect of the club.

Also on the list is speaking with the Government of Ontario and the Office of the Mayor – City of Toronto regarding transportation to and from the stadium and to the league about kickoff times, with a desire to play more afternoon games.

There is a big catalyzing event for the sport on the horizon.

“The [FIFA] World Cup is coming up in 2026. We've got six games here, that's like six Super Bowls. I don't think the city really understands how big and monumental this is going to be,” said Pelley. “The economic impact that it can have on the city is incredible and what it can do to football, whether you're at the event or one of the parties. There will be so many different opportunities for people to touch the brand and for it to galvanize communities.”

“We, at that time, have to be firing on all cylinders. That is a critical component to the urgency and the time that I will spend on TFC,” he stressed. “By 2026 you want to have an exciting, entertaining team that is engaging the city and all the people that experienced the euphoria of the World Cup who now want to experience that at BMO Field. Some of the renovations will be permanent afterwards, which will be a benefit for TFC. The World Cup is pretty critical to us. We want to be ready and have this team ready for when it comes here.”

There’s no time like the present.

“This is as good a time as any to rebuild,” said Pelley. “But a rebuild in MLS can happen very quickly and that's why we're feverishly working right now to determine it prior to the transfer window. We have some funds available this year, but until we know exactly where we want to go in all aspects, then we're going to put a pause on it until we're ready. And that's full alignment from everyone.”

“When you watched [Jason] and Marco work, you could see,” he closed. “I went, ‘Okay, here we go. We're going to create something. I've seen this before. We're going to create something that could be magical down the road.’”