Quiet times on Route 1?

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.- The trucks and SUVs typically found within the confines of the players’ lot at Gillette Stadium may have left for the winter, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s on holiday.

Far from it, in fact. Although the Revolution’s season ended 40 days ago, there’s actually quite a bit of work left to undertake on the parts of the Revolution technical staff and front office.

Perhaps the tallest order of the offseason is the re-signing of veteran goalkeeper Matt Reis. The 35-year-old, who will be out of contract at the end of the month, has been offered a deal by the Revolution, but has not yet officially signed on the dotted line. In the interim, the ‘keeper is continuing his rehab from right ankle surgery back in October, and is expected to be fit by the time preseason camp commences in late-January.

In other personnel news, you may have already read that the club has declined its options on Preston Burpo, Nico Colaluca, Cory Gibbs, and Khano Smith. As a result, all four are eligible for the inaugural MLS Re-entry Process. Stage 1 began and ended yesterday with Joseph Ngwenya landing in D.C. and while Aaron Hohlbein has been extended a Bona Fide Offer by the Columbus. Stage 2, which commences on December 15, 2010 at 2:00pm., is expected to be busier than its predecessor.

Speaking of busy, Gibbs was particularly active this offseason as a volunteer assistant coach on the staff of Brown University men’s soccer team. Gibbs, a 2001 Brown graduate, patrolled the sidelines of Stevenson Field along with head coach Patrick Laughlin during Brown’s successful 12-4-4 season, which ended in the third round of the NCAA Championship.

Meanwhile, in climes far warmer than that of frigid Foxboro, Nicol and his staff have taken to the skies for scouting trips to Niger, Nigeria, Norway and Argentina, among other locales. According to the always-informative Jeff Lemieux of revolutionsoccer.net, the club has also placed several Discovery claims on some of their finds as the Discovery window opened earlier this week. And, as you might imagine, the techincal staff have also been busy scouting NCAA action in search of the players they hope to call upon during next month’s SuperDraft.

“Next month’s SuperDraft.” Funny how the time flies even when the balls and pinnies are packed away in the shed.