Struggling Earthquakes fire their coach.
Kinnear fired day after win vaults team into fifth; Leitch named as replacement
SAN JOSE — The Earthquakes fired Dominic Kinnear and named former defender Chris Leitch as his replacement in a stunning development as the team continues to clean house in an attempt to join Major League Soccer’s elite.
The sacking came Sunday, a day after the fifth-place Quakes defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1. Although the team has boosted the roster this year with solid foreign signings it has failed to show enough improvement to secure Kinnear’s job. San Jose has a minus-three goal differential after scoring only 18 times in 17 games.
Part of the reason has been injuries that have decimated the roster, including an ankle strain to star defender Florian Jungwirth that came in a U.S. Open Cup game against the San Francisco Deltas.
Quakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli made his first major decision in trying to end a four-year playoff drought while pivoting toward the future. The Swiss-born GM said he planned to spend the first part of the season observing.
But Sunday he took dramatic action by dumping Kinnear and assistant John Spencer, who came to San Jose this year.
“This decision was made after a lot of thought and evaluation,” Fioranelli said in a statement. “We decided that we wanted to go in a different direction as we continue to build the identity of this club.”
Leitch, a former right fullback who worked his way to interim general manager, will be joined by new assistant coach Alex Covelo. The Brazilian joined the team in April as director of methodology.
“Chris is the ideal person to take this role at this time,” Fioranelli said. “He has a history with the club and has very good knowledge of our entire development pipeline from the youth teams, through PDL and USL up to the first team.
He combines that with a shared vision for the club’s identity that we have been developing for the past months. Chris and Alex give us two very good soccer minds with a desire to make this club one of the best in MLS.”
In 2015, Kinnear began his second tenure as Earthquakes coach after spending nine years with the Houston Dynamo. One of the league’s most accomplished coaches was 27-31-27 in the 2 ½ years since his return. The Fremont coach also led the Earthquakes in 2004 and 2005 for an record of 5445-48.
The Dynamo won the MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007 and made the final in 2011 and 2012 under Kinnear. His longtime Houston assistants Steve Ralston and goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley will remain in their current roles in San Jose.
The firing comes just less than a year after the Quakes dumped general manager John Doyle, who is one of Kinnear’s best friends.
After retiring in 2011, Leitch, 38, became the team’s academy director and was promoted to technical director in 2015. Last year he served as interim general manager and is considered a master of the MLS’s complicated salary cap structure.
He becomes the team’s fourth coach since San Jose re-entered MLS as an expansion team 10 years ago.
“It has been an honor to work with Dominic for the past 2 ½ years,” Leitch said. “Our immediate goal is to make the playoffs this year and we can definitely accomplish that if we all work hard together.”
He won’t have much time to ease into the job. San Jose plays host to MLS rival Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday in the round of 16 for the U.S. Open Cup.
Then the Earthquakes face rival Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday at the annual California Clasico at Stanford Stadium that attracts 50,000 fans. Finally, San Jose has a July 4 game at Atlanta United FC.
The L.A. game comes at a crucial time as the Quakes (6-6-5, 23 points) fight to remain among the Western Conference’s top six teams who make the playoffs.