It takes around eight hours to drive from Chicago to Nashville. There are more than a dozen direct flights each day that will get you there in 90 minutes. But Brian Schwake went the long way, getting to Nashville via Scotland and Spain with an absolutely crucial detour in Luxembourg of all places.
It wasn't efficient, but the Nashville SC goalkeeper is glad he did it.
"There is a pathway in the U.S., but I just knew it wasn't going to work for me," he told USA TODAY Sports.
Things are working for him now. After making the journey to Tennessee in 2025, Schwake earned the starting job in 2026 after a year as the cup goalkeeper.
Now, he has helped Nashville SC become the Supporters' Shield favorite, topping the MLS leaderboard in clean sheets (11),
save percentage (78.5%) and in wonkier stats like a league-best goals-xG number of .66, according to American Soccer Analytics. That works to measure how many goals a keeper has given up verses what you'd expect given the quality of shots they've faced.
He needs six clean sheets in the last 11 matches to break Tony Meola's single-season MLS record of 16.
Calls for U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino to give the 25-year-old a look for the national team are increasing. But before Schwake had any claim to be the best goalkeeper in the U.S., he had to accept a difficult truth: He wasn't even the best goalkeeper in Chicago.
Or, at least, he wasn't going to be able to show he was the best goalkeeper in Chicago. U.S. U-17 goalkeeper Alex Budnik and current FC Cincinnati starter Roman Celentano both got time ahead of Schwake at youth club Sockers SC.
A connection between his goalkeeper coach in Chicago and Blackburn Rovers goalkeeping coach Ben Benson, though, meant Schwake had the confidence to believe he could make it on either side of the Atlantic.
The same coach who helped launch the career of current Arsenal No. 1 David Raya, current Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele and other Premier League goalkeepers felt Schwake had what it took to be a top shot-stopper. He just needed to get to Europe.
"I was just like, 'Look, if this is where people think I'm better, I need to find a way to get over there,'" Schwake said.
Schwake and his father went on an expedition, working through their family history and European passport laws to see if there was any way to get the documents that would be needed to sign with a club outside North America. Polish heritage stretched too far back to be helpful. German ancestry was no help either. Then, a breakthrough. Under rules he said have since changed, Schwake was eligible for a Luxembourg passport thanks to his great-great-grandmother.
After obtaining documents and getting them translated, working with a professional who knew how to submit them, worrying about the rule change and continuing to try to train his best in Chicago, the path was finally clear for Schwake to head to Europe.
The start wasn't glamorous, but Schwake wanted to be in a place where he felt his coaches believed in him and his potential.
"I definitely had a choice of, 'Who am I gonna listen to?' Am I gonna listen to people saying I can't do something, or am I gonna listen to people say that I can do something?" he said. "I think that I chose to listen to the right people."
Benson connected Schwake with a friend from Carlisle, and the goalkeeper ended up in Scotland as the Covid pandemic was beginning. He went on loan to a handful of lower-division teams, putting together good seasons at both Edinburgh City and Greenock Morton before jumping into a "totally different culture football-wise" at Castellón in Spain, where he worked to pick up Spanish to better be able to direct the back line. Minutes were sparse, though he was able to make appearances in the Copa del Rey.
Schwake left Castellón in 2025, opting to return to the U.S. with Nashville where he was initially a backup for veteran Joe Willis.
The Open Cup performances last season, including a penalty save in the final against Austin FC that helped Nashville win the cup and earn the Concacaf Champions Cup spot that comes with it, were enough to convince the Nashville staff Schwake was ready to be a regular starter.
That was only confirmed during the Concacaf Champions Cup this year. Nashville kept Inter Miami off the scoreboard in the first leg of the teams' round of 16 series, and while Schwake was beaten by Lionel Messi in the second leg, his five saves and a goal from winter arrival Cristian Espinoza was enough to push the Boys in Gold to the quarterfinals.
There, they faced Club América, and went to the Estadio Azteca for the second leg just weeks before the legendary stadium hosted the inaugural match of the 2026 World Cup.
"I was able to play at Celtic Park in front of, like 60,000 people - we got killed, but you still know that you can do these things and can play in tough environments," Schwake said. "It was definitely something that I was able to draw on my experience before. Maybe like if you look on paper, it's just two or three games here, but it can actually do a lot to build your confidence - especially as a young player."
Nashville drew 0-0 at home with América before securing a famous 1-0 win at the Azteca, moving on to face Tigres in the final four.
While Nashville couldn't make it out of El Volcan unscathed, falling 1-0 to Tigres in both legs of their semifinal, the CCC run showed that the club had a roster that could compete in MLS - and a style they could be comfortable playing, knowing Schwake was there to provide security if the team got caught too far up the field looking for a goal.
"You have to accept the fact that if you’re going to attack, and attack with numbers, you may give up some goal-scoring chances, and you want your goalkeeper to come up big more often than not," head coach B.J. Callaghan said after a recent win. "That’s what Brian does."
Seeing him do that so effectively, plus watching him come up in big moments like denying Messi from the penalty spot in a league game, has plenty of fans in Nashville and beyond wondering if Schwake needs to get a look from the U.S. national team.
YOU CAN'T DO THAT 👏👏👏 https://t.co/dtYKIIH3dh pic.twitter.com/xrmqdUAhBK
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) August 16, 2026
Strangely enough, Schwake may find himself in a repeat of his situation nearly a decade ago, competing with other top Chicagoland goalkeepers. Chicago Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady, three years younger than Schwake, was the third goalkeeper for the U.S. on the 2026 World Cup roster, while Fire product Gaga Slonina and Celentano also are expected to stake their claims to be the USMNT's goalkeeper of the future.
While Schwake continues to focus on the things he wants to achieve with Nashville, he's enthusiastic about the potential to be in the U.S. picture going forward.
"That would be amazing! I haven't heard anything, but that would be a dream come true. I grew up watching the U.S. and rooting for them and rooting for them at the World Cups supporting Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, [Brad] Friedel and [Brad] Guzan and just like loving the national team," he said. "So it'd be something that would be like a childhood dream.
"But it's something that gets taken care of by doing our business, week in, week out and winning games, and we just gotta keep continuing doing that."
Nashville has lost just three times this season, including a Wednesday Sept. 9 defeat to Toronto FC that saw Schwake make five saves and end up as Nashville's Man of the Match in the defeat. They sit seven points clear of second-place Vancouver in the Supporters' Shield race ahead of a showdown with Messi and third-place Inter Miami on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Schwake already helped the team win its first trophy with last year's Open Cup triumph. Now, in a state that has never seen any of its professional teams win a league title, the focus is on the Shield, then MLS Cup.
"Last year, we talked about winning a trophy. Now, we're talking about hopefully trying to win multiple trophies," he said. "When you look at the players we have, but also like the team bond, it's something that is really, really special and really unique."
Trophies that would be delivered to Tennessee thanks to a goalkeeper who took the long road to get there and, if his 2026 breakout campaign is any indication, still has plenty of road ahead of him.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brian Schwake took the long road to Nashville. Now he's making a USMNT push
