One of the best teams in all of MLS at home this season (11-3-3), Nashville SC had a very successful season that came to a very unfortunate end.

This squad had monumental improvement in comparison to their 2024 campaign where they moved from their 9-9-16 (13th in East) finish to their 2025 campaign where they finished 16-6-12 (6th in East).

The team made the MLS Cup Playoffs where they ultimately fell after their best of 3 series with Inter Miami CF went the distance. 

Nashville scored 20 more goals in comparison to 2024 & allowed 9 less goals than in 2024. The team improved in every category this season.

The biggest questions for Nashville SC entering 2026 is: How do they fill the voids left by Zimmerman & Willis? How will BJ Callaghan attack this offseason?

In the offseason guide:

The Positives

In his first full season with the club, BJ Callaghan completely turned around this club. He brought Nashville back to the playoffs & made this team look like a contender once again.

Nashville’s designated players went nuclear this season. Both forward Sam Surridge (25 goals, 5 assists) & midfielder Hany Mukhtar (16 goals, 12 assists) were unbelievably impactful in Nashville’s success. Attributing for 57 of Nashville’s goals this season, the two were extremely impactful in their attacking principals.

Sam Surridge ultimately finished 3rd in the MLS golden boot race (finishing behind Lionel Messi & Denis Bouanga) this season and has continued to grow into a striker that is feared.

Mukhtar additionally had his best season since his 2022 MLS MVP season & showcased further that he is one of the best center attacking midfielders in the league.

The biggest improvement for this squad was scoring 20 goals more & allowing 9 less goals in comparison to the previous season. They also made it back to the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Additionally, Nashville won their first ever trophy & first major sports professional championship for Tennessee after they won the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup this season. 

The Negatives

This team struggled on the road. Over the course of the season, Nashville were one of the weaker road teams across the league with a 5W-9L-3D record. It’ll be extremely important for the squad to improve upon their away record as that could be the difference for this team making the top-4.

The biggest negative that Nashville had was at the end of the season when they had to face Inter Miami CF FOUR STRAIGHT TIMES to end their season. After facing Inter Miami on decision day, it was determined that Nashville would finish as the 6 seed and would travel to face Inter Miami in the first round best-of-three series. The matchup would go all three games, however, Nashville were outscored 8 to 3 over the course of the series and were unfortunately eliminated.

A massive void that Nashville will have to fill this offseason is their backline as Two-time MLS Defender of the Year (2020, 2021) Walker Zimmerman & longtime goalkeeper Joe Willis will both be leaving the club after 6 seasons. 

Roster Flexibility

Nashville enters this offseason with a lot of flexibility. At the moment, the club has two designated players (Hany Mukhtar & Sam Surridge) and have 2 rostered U-22 initiative signings (Ahmed Qasem & Patrick Yazbeck). 

This club will enter the offseason with the ability to choose whether they want to enter the 3DP, 3U22 model or the 2DP and 4 U-22s model, which includes up to $2 million in GAM. Nashville had $51,626 in GAM (as of Sept. 18, 2025).

The club announced their year-end roster update, where they announced most contract option decisions.

Nashville is entering the 2026 season with 22 total players rostered.

Offseason Priorities

Nashville will have a lot of room to work with after the departures of Walker Zimmerman (DP) & Gaston Brugman (TAM).

BJ Callaghan will now have the ability to build upon his successful season and add pieces over the next two transfer windows to build Nashville into his foreseeable future. 

Nashville is in dire need of a starting center back and a new goalkeeper.

It will also be imperative that they add some more depth to their midfield and acquire an offensive option in free agency.