Chris Leitch is expected to return as San Jose Earthquakes head coach in 2018, multiple sources have told MLSsoccer.com.
Leitch was hired as Quakes manager after the team fired former head coach Dominic Kinnear on June 25 following a 6-6-5 start. San Jose are 6-8-2 under Leitch, and are in sixth place in the Western Conference heading into Decision Day presented by AT&T. They will clinch a playoff berth with a win against Minnesota at Avaya Stadium on Sunday (4 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
Leitch, 38, played 10 seasons in MLS and made 48 regular season appearances with San Jose from 2009 until he retired following the 2011 season. He started as the club’s academy director in 2012 and was promoted to technical director in 2015. He then served as interim GM between John Doyle’s firing last August and current GM Jesse Fioranelli’s hiring in January. He returned to his position as technical director after Fioranelli came aboard.
Fioranelli, who was hired this winter after spending time at Italian clubs Roma and Lazio, cited a poor road record and untapped potential among young players as reasons for Kinnear’s dismissal.
The club have had a worse goal differential (it was -3 under Kinnear; it’s -19 under Leitch) and away record since the coaching change (they were 2-5-1 on the road under Kinnear; Leitch has a 1-7-1 away mark), but younger players have gotten more of a chance since Leitch took charge. Rookie midfielder Jackson Yueill, 20, has made all but one of his 13 regular season appearances under Leitch, and 22-year-old Homegrown attacker Tommy Thompson has made 10 of his 16 starts since the move.
Leitch did not receive an interim tag when hired, but San Jose never explicitly stated that he’d come back for next season. The club declined to comment when reached on Tuesday.
