Who's next to coach the Columbus Crew?
Your guess is as good as mine, Damet
I've been diligent about learning the game of soccer as taught to me by my children. I've been covering the Crew for more than a decade. I know a couple of things and I have a few phone numbers, but I don't pretend to be an expert. The miscreants at Aces Radio have a better grasp of MLS than I do.
Put another way: I am no Matthew Doyle – who may be the keenest observer of MLS on the planet. His "Armchair Analyst" copy at mlssoccer.com is must-read. A fine writer, he is. His relatively new Substack, "Tactics Free Zone," should be mandatory for anyone who cares about soccer in America. (The only criticism I have is he should have used Ghost or beehiiv for his newsletter platform because Substack is turning to the dark side. Zuckerberg or some other tech bro will buy it and use it like Elon uses X. But I digress ...)
I know a couple of things and I have a few phone numbers, but I'd be stupid not to write about "Who's next to coach the Columbus Crew?" without leaning on the Armchair Analyst. His post-season breakdown of the Crew is concise, pointed and full of insights. I'm definitely paying for a subscription the next time I get a paycheck. You should, too (although there is ample free access. Viva yo, Senior Silla).
Wilfried Nancy, the best coach in MLS, is leaving Columbus to take a job with Scottish powerhouse Celtic. According to reports on the other side of the pond, Nancy was due to land in Glasgow Tuesday night. A formal introduction will come Wednesday or Thursday.
Some background:
Michael Arace
Michael Arace
I've called Nancy "the best coach I've ever seen, at any level, in any sport." Doyle believes Nancy is "the best coach in MLS history." Now, he must be replaced, as if that is possible.
Crew GM Issa Tall is on the spot. The pressure on him is immense.
The following list of candidates may or may not be anything like what Tall has collected in his leafy brain. What follows is somewhat educated, but purely speculative. In alphabetical order:
Laurent Courtois
Courtois came up through the Olympique Lyonnais academy, a well-respected farm. He had a long playing career as a midfielder in France, Spain and the United States.
Courtois began his coaching career as an LA Galaxy assistant. He returned to coach in Lyon's academy, then joined the Crew's academy in 2018. He led Crew 2 to the inaugural MLS Next Pro title in 2022 and got the Capybaras back to the championship game in 2023 (when they lost to that team down south).
Courtois was hired to CF Montreal's first team in January 2024. Montreal sacked him in March after a 0-4-1 start to the 2025 season. His record there was 12-20-13.
Courtois is a believer in Nancy's progressive, possession-based system. He tried to install something similar in Montreal – up and down the ranks – but it didn't adhere quickly enough to satisfy a mercurial owner and his management team.
Dude has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
If Tall wants to maintain continuity of systems, Courtois, 47, is a consideration.
Jim Curtin
Curtin played collegiately at Villanova and then embarked on a decade-long career as an MLS defender with the Chicago Fire and Chivas USA (remember them?).
Curtin spent a dozen years as a coach with the Philadelphia Union, the last 10 as the head coach of the first team. His Union teams won a Supporters' Shield in 2020 and made it to the MLS Cup final in 2022 – which may be the greatest final in league history. (Jack Elliott put Philly ahead at 120+4, LAFC's Christian Bale tied it 3-3 with a virtual buzzer-beater at 120+8 and LA won it on kicks.)
Curtin, a two-time MLS Coach of the Year, had a record of 176-133-11 in Philly. His Union teams made the U.S. Open Cup finals three times and the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals twice. He was fired after the Union missed the playoffs in 2024.
The supposed knock on Curtin was that he grew reliant on small squads of veterans.
Earlier this fall, after Caleb Porter was fired, Curtin talked to the New England Revolution about their head coaching job. Reportedly, he pulled himself out of the conversation.
Curtin and Nancy, both of whom exude class, are tight.
Systems-wise, Curtin's Philly teams played a fast, possession-based game that didn't have much east-west to it. Very vertical offensively and high-pressing defensively.
If tall is looking for an established coach with a proven track record – and a Daniel Gazdag whisperer – Curtin, 46, is a consideration.
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Yoann Damet
When Nancy took the Columbus job in 2023 one of his first moves was to have the Crew pay a buyout to get Damet from the LA Galaxy.
Damet is the Crew's preferred in-house candidate, I'm told. Kwame Ampadu, another Nancy assistant, could be floated here – but all signs point to Ampadu heading off to Glasgow with Nancy.
Damet, who hails from Marseilles, figured out early that he didn't have the talent to play professionally. But he loved the game so, he went into coaching at age 16. He worked in the lower rungs in France before coming over to coach in the Montreal Impact academy system. There, Nancy was a colleague.
Damet served on the staff at FC Cincinnati from 2017-2021 and had still as a first-team assistant and interim coach. He was head coach of Galaxy II for a year, then a first-team assistant. And then he re-joined Nancy in CBus.
Damet checks a lot of boxes and his name has been buzzing around the league as Nancy's likeliest successor.
If Tall values a transition that is as seamless as possible, Damet, 35, is a consideration.
Kelvin Jones
Jones, a defender, played collegiately at Wake Forest and professionally for Charleston and Richmond of the USL. His coaching career gained traction when he joined the the Crew academy staff in 2017. He climbed the ladder to become the Crew's academy director, and then head coach of Crew 2. He led Crew 2 to the MLS Next Pro conference final in 2024, then left to join Mikey Varas' staff ahead of San Diego FC's inaugural season in MLS.
The San Diegos had a terrific inaugural season in 2025 – they won the West, finished third in the Supporters' Shield standings and made it to the conference final, where they were eliminated by Vancouver.
Varas plays a system that is not unlike that of Nancy – and they're stubborn about it, not unlike Nancy.
Like Courtois and Damet, Jones, 43, has a ton of institutional knowledge.
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Brian Maissoneuve
Maisonneuve is a legendary Crew defender, perhaps even all-time IX, depending on how old you are.
Maisonneuve had stints as an assistant with U.S. U-17 and U-20 national team before he became one of the top collegiate assistants in the country. He served on staffs at Louisville and, more notably, Indiana (where he had starred as a player).
Maisonneuve got the chance to run his own program when he was hired by Ohio State in 2018. Last year, he had the Buckeyes ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the season; they lost in the College Cup semifinals.
I don't know if Maissoneuve, 52, is a candidate, or if he's ready to give up a great job that comes with a measure of security. But I'm happy to float his name here because he's a first-rate dude and worthy of mention.
Josh Wolff
Wolff had a distinguished career as a striker in MLS, in Germany and with the USMNT. He scored a goal in one of the legendary Dos a Cero matches against Mexico, the game they call "La Guerra Fria" south of the border. It was played at Columbus Crew Stadium on February 28, 2001. It marked the USMNT's first victory over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier since 1980.
Wolff was an assistant under Gregg Berhalter in Columbus from 2013-2018, then went along with Triple-G to the U.S. Mens National Team. He left in 2019 to become the first coach of Austin FC. Wolff's teams (like GGG's) were known for maintaining possession and building out of the back.
In 2021, Wolff's second season in Austin, his FCs came out of nowhere to finish in second place in the Western Conference; they made it all the way to the conference finals that year. Two terrible seasons followed and he was fired by Anthony "Thanks Dad" Precourt on Oct. 6, 2024. Wolff's record with the Queso Verdes was 50-67-31.
Wolff is on Ben Olsen's Houston Dynamo coaching staff.
If you've seen Berhalter's Crew, USMNT and Chicago Fire teams, you have an idea of the possession-based system Wolff favors.
If Tall is looking to go in a different direction, then Woff, 48, is a consideration.
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