Jon Bell does not celebrate like a player who is surprised to score.
When the Austin FC defender found himself in a crowded penalty area on March 14 against Real Salt Lake and headed a free kick into the net, he executed a Eurostep celebration and hugged his new teammates like a seasoned striker.
Amid Bell’s first season with Austin FC — his fourth MLS club after stints with New England, St. Louis City and Seattle — the Montgomery County native and former UMBC standout has become exactly the kind of player coaches rave about and box scores tend to ignore. The 28-year-old journeyman is in his seventh professional season, making a name for himself as an offensive-minded center back willing to play wherever he’s asked.
Austin has lagged in the standings, sitting second to last in the Western Conference through 14 games as the MLS takes a monthlong break for the World Cup. Bell has made seven starts, amassing the most minutes (722) of any rotation player and tallying two goals, already a career high.
Bell’s early success is one in a series of small payoffs in a decade-long bet on himself. It started as a youth player with D.C. United’s academy, wound through an unexpected college stop at UMBC and keeps finding new life in MLS. Along the way he never allowed adversity to stymie his dreams.
“I’ve always just been really determined to get things done, to accomplish things that I set out for myself,” Bell said. “Being a professional athlete … that dream was reachable. By any means necessary, I was just determined to make it happen.”
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The first real jolt of belief came at RFK Stadium around 2011. Bell, aged 13 or 14, was called up to train with United’s first team.
“I still remember that session so vividly, because it was that first moment I was really surrounded by pro athletes,” he said. “And realizing I was able to keep up with those guys kind of put it in perspective: This is something that you can really do.”
As graduation from Richard Montgomery High School neared, Bell had already verbally committed to Virginia. His path seemed set. Then that plan collapsed. Bell decommitted from the ACC powerhouse and briefly considered attending community college.
UMBC had initially been interested in Bell as a junior. Anthony Adams, then associate head coach, had brought Bell in for a campus visit but hadn’t pursued him further. After a growth spurt in his senior year that pushed him close to 6-foot-1, Virginia swooped in. Adams was too late.
Nearly two years later, in the spring of 2016, Adams sat in with D.C. United for a professional development visit. Tom Torres, United’s academy director, invited him to watch training.
“You still looking for players?” Adams recalled Torres asking. Adams was; UMBC needed a defender. Torres said, “Would you have any interest in Jon Bell?”
Adams was amazed at his good fortune. The next day, Bell visited UMBC’s campus and in the fall, he was wearing black and gold.
“If I’m not there in D.C. that day,” Adams said, “this doesn’t happen.”
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Bell arrived in Catonsville as part of a highly regarded 2016 class.
At first, Bell thought the small Baltimore County campus lacked the glamour of an elite Division I school, but the feeling soon changed. UMBC, Bell realized, was the perfect place to get immediate reps, something that may not have happened in Charlottesville.
“Coming in and then being around all the guys I was with, it really became a really dope brotherhood,” Bell said. “I’m still friends with a lot of the guys today that I played in college with, and it was really a great opportunity for me.”
Bell immediately became the starting left back thanks to his elite crossing ability, recovery speed and knack for attacking.
Head coach Pete Caringi, who retired in 2023 and made way for Adams to helm the program, progressively came to trust Bell and in turn, saw the player’s confidence grow.
“He just fit right in from day one,” Caringi said, “and that’s that rare kind of player, the same kind of player that eventually will make it at the next level.”
After starting a combined 30 of 33 games and dishing out five assists in his first two seasons, Bell suffered a preseason knee injury as a junior in 2018 that limited him to 11 starts. The setback devastated Bell, who hoped to enter the MLS SuperDraft after the season.
In the end, he only missed a few games and helped the Retrievers make a run to the America East championship, receiving second-team all-conference honors along the way.
“For me, that was a moment,” Bell said. “I felt like I kind of pushed through some adversity, and I was still showcasing my ability.”
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By his senior season in 2019, MLS teams were paying attention.
The San Jose Earthquakes selected Bell with the 38th pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, making him the fifth Retriever to reach MLS.
He was thrilled to achieve his soccer dreams, but it quickly became clear he would never play a minute in an Earthquakes jersey. When he arrived for preseason, Bell was told he wouldn’t make the team.
Bell’s situation reminded Adams that athletes need more than just talent. They need resilience.
“That always stuck with me, because you’re going to hear ‘no’ a lot,” Adams said. “There’s a lot of good players out there that at some point gave up on their dream and kind of justified it in their minds, you know, ‘I gave it a go.’ Jon could have done that.”
Bell wasn’t going to let his dream die, recalling the same uncertainty he felt when his commitment to Virginia fell through. He signed with the New England Revolution II in USL League One and finished the 2020 season with 18 appearances. The rookie caught the attention of Bruce Arena, then head coach of the Revolution, who called him up in early 2021. Across two seasons with New England, Bell became a regular contributor.
“From San Jose to New England, it was that same determination, that mentality of wanting to accomplish something and speaking ‘I want to be a pro athlete’ into existence,” Bell said.
After the 2022 season came another unanticipated hurdle. The newly-formed St. Louis City SC took Bell in the 2023 MLS Expansion Draft. After making a handful of appearances for the club, Bell was selected in the MLS Re-Entry Draft by the Seattle Sounders, offering him the stability he had craved since leaving New England.
Bell made 31 appearances for the Sounders in 2024 and 2025, helping the team lift the Leagues Cup title in 2024.
To Caringi, Bell’s willingness to accept those moves and not lose faith is exactly what has kept him in MLS.
“You have to have the will to want to continue to play,” Caringi said. “It’s too easy to go, ‘Well, this team doesn’t like me,’ or, ‘I don’t like it here, I’m going to get out.’ … I think once he got that opportunity, he was going to show people what he could do day in, day out.”
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In December, again needing a contract, Bell was quickly snapped up by Austin FC, signing a three-year deal through the middle of 2028.
In Texas, he has toggled between left back and center back, embracing the homework both spots demand. When the MLS resumes play in July, Bell will pick up where he left off as a hard-nosed defender, looking to do what’s best for the team — and, of course, score his next goal.
Seven years into his pro career, Bell frames the challenges he has faced in simple terms: Everything is about relentless discipline and determination. If you have the right attitude, the right things will happen.
“If you think negatively, then negative things will happen,” he said. “If you speak positive, and you think positive, and you apply yourself in a way that’s going to make you become successful in what you’re trying to do, it’s doable.”
A straightforward outlook from a player who has never once considered giving up.
Photo Credit: Jacob Gonzalez/Austin FC
Originally published June 24, 2026