Legendary D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno wants to be an MLS head coach and he's leaving his full-time job to get it.
Moreno has confirmed to CSNWashington.com that he will not return as coach of D.C. United's U-23 academy team after this season. Despite his love for United — for whom he scored 131 goals in 14 seasons — Moreno's main focus is landing an MLS head-coaching job, and he's willing to leave the nation's capital to do so.
"Unfortunately it's my last year here with the U-23s," Moreno told CSN Washington. "I'm pretty much done because I want to move on, too. I want to see what's out there and I want to see what else I can do to achieve my goals, which is to become an MLS head coach one day."
Moreno's crossover from player to coach didn't take long after he retired from the game — less than a year before he was wielding a whistle in his current position — and it seems as if the ascent up the coaching ranks has been a rather quick process for the Bolivian legend, who thinks of himself as a "player's coach."
"They can see that I always have fun, but being responsible and then after you win, you can do whatever you want," Moreno told CSN Washington about his relationship with his current players. "To see the results, to see the things you work on in practice and then you see them on the field, it's a nice feeling. That shows you that they are listening to you. That the stuff that you told them is paying off or at least they get it and they're trying to put it all on the field."
The D.C. United U-23 team is currently 1-0-1 early on in its eight-game 2013 season that runs between May and July.
