The New England Revolution announced the hiring of Curt Onalfo as technical director Sunday night, bringing another member of newly-hired head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena’s inner circle into the fold as he commences his Revs rebuild.
A head coach of the Kansas City Wizards (2007-09), D.C. United (2010), and most recently the LA Galaxy (2017), Onalfo was also an accomplished player who starred for Arena at the University of Virginia before building a decade-long professional career across several countries, winning a battle with Hodgkin’s disease along the way. He played for Arena at D.C. in 1998 and worked as one of his assistant coaches with the US men’s national team from 2002-07.
Onalfo later spent six-plus years in multiple roles with the Galaxy during Arena’s successful tenure at that club, serving as an assistant coach from 2011-14, and as the inaugural head coach of the club’s USL side, LA Galaxy II, from 2014-16. He was selected as Arena's successor as first-team head coach after the latter's departure for a second stint in charge of the USMNT, but Onalfo was fired less than a year into his tenure after the Galaxy struggled to a 6-10-4 record on his watch.
“I am very pleased to add Curt to our technical staff as we continue to build the soccer organization in New England,” Arena said in a club release. “Having worked with Curt for many years, I know his vast knowledge and experience in the game will make him an immediate asset to the club.”
Onalfo also carried New England ties, having grown up in Ridgefield, Connecticut after his birth and early childhood in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
