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SANDY — Real Salt Lake’s second-division side will be looking for a new coach next season.
Mark Briggs, who had been suspended by the club after allegations of domestic violence, resigned as head coach Real Monarchs, the club confirmed Thursday night.
"We thank him for his service to our club and wish him well," Real Salt Lake said in a statement.
Former RSL defender Jamison Olave, who had been serving as interim head coach since Briggs’ departure, will remain the interim manager for the remainder of the season. Olave was named an assistant coach with the club in February 2017.
Briggs had been suspended with charges pending of domestic violence by the Draper City Attorney’s Office, but those charges were dropped Wednesday for a lack of evidence, according to the court’s charging documents and Briggs' attorney Greg Skordas
Charges were filed back on May 23 that included two counts of domestic violence assault, one count of domestic violence in the presence of a child and witness tampering. A jury trial was scheduled for Sept. 12, 2018, but at the final pre-trial conference Wednesday, Briggs and Skordas met with the prosecutor to have the charges dismissed, the attorney said.
The case was dismissed in its entirety, according to Skordas, who added Briggs had hopes of resuming his post with Real Salt Lake as soon as possible.
But RSL told KSL.com on Wednesday afternoon that the club was still conducting an internal investigation, for which Briggs remained suspended prior to his resignation Thursday.
The Monarchs are 16-2-6 and in first place in the second-division USL’s Western Conference. The club hosts LA Galaxy II at 8 p.m. MT Saturday night at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
The 36-year-old Briggs, a native of Wolverhampton, England, played professionally from 1998 until 2013, when he began his coaching career with the Wilmington Hammerheads in the USL. He arrived at Real Monarchs in 2016, first as an assistant coach to now-RSL head coach Mike Petke before ascending to the head position just one game into the 2017 season.
Under Briggs, the Monarchs were 28-9-5 with a USL regular-season championship in 2017, but crashed out in the first round of the playoffs.
