FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For the first time since 2011, the New England Revolution have a head coaching vacancy.
New England fired head coach Jay Heaps on Monday, dismissing the longtime Revs defender after six years as head coach. Whoever comes in as his replacement will be tasked with turning around a club that has largely underachieved since making an appearance at MLS Cup in 2014. Despite having a considerable amount of talent, New England are eighth in the East, seven points under the playoff line with just five matches remaining.
“We want to go forward and get back on the right track,” Revs GM Michael Burns told MLSsoccer.com. “We feel like we have a core group of players who are good enough. We haven’t given up on this team, but we are definitely trending in the wrong direction, and that was the main reason for the change. We need to bring in a new coach who is going to help us turn that direction around.”
Whoever the new coach is, Burns said he’ll have “a lot of say” over the club’s philosophy, formation and style of play. But in reaching that point, he’s laid out no specific timeline.
In an ideal world, Burns said he’d make a hire “well before” preseason, mindful of how MLS necessitates roster decisions – the expansion draft, SuperDraft, contract options, etc. – prior to that point. As part of those various processes and conversations, Burns wants the Revs’ next coach to play an active role.
“I’d like to ideally have someone on board for all of that, but we’re not going to rush a decision just to make sure that happens,” Burns said. “We’re not looking at this just as a short-term hire. For me, the players are critical and important, but this as critical if not more critical a hire than I’ve been involved in.”
The importance of the decision isn’t lost on Burns, but he said he’s less concerned with making a public statement of intent than finding the "right guy." And in that search, he’s open to international and domestic candidates, as well as internal ones such as Tom Soehn, who has taken over for Heaps on an interim basis.
Still, Burns made special note of how vast the international pool is, mindful of the direction several of New England’s Eastern Conference foes have gone in. Near the top of the table, Atlanta United FC (Tata Martino, Argentina), New York City FC (Patrick Vieira, France) and the Chicago Fire (Veljko Paunovic, Serbia) all boast international managers.
“That pool already, in 24 hours, far exceeds the entire list we received six years ago,” Burns said. “It speaks volumes to where MLS is at, where MLS is going and the worldwide perception of our league. That’s not to sound misleading where we’re actually hiring an international coach, but it has changed.
Leading the search will be Burns, who will filter through applicants and then determine a shortlist. At that point, he’ll consult with club president Brian Bilello and the Kraft family, their ownership group.
“We want to find someone who’s the best candidate for the job and I think if you look at the history of our club, we’ve only had two managers in the last 16 years,” Burns said. “If we can continue on that trend, I’ll take that forever. That means you’re doing something right over a long period of time.”
