Director, GM exits add to US turmoil

A day after opening arguably the biggest World Cup cycle in its history, the U.S. Soccer Federation finds itself without a sporting director and without a general manager or coach for its men’s national team.

The federation announced Thursday that sporting director Earnie Stewart will return to the Netherlands as director of soccer for PSV Eindhoven while Brian Mcbride, general manager for the men’s national team program, has resigned after three seasons.

The men’s team has been without a permanent head coach since Gregg Berhalter’s contract expired at the end of 2022 and federation President Cindy Parlow Cone said on a conference call Thursday that the position could remain open into the summer, leaving interim coach Anthony Hudson in charge for Nations League games in March and June and the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which ends in July.

She said she was hopeful the federation would have a new sporting director in place before the Women’s World Cup, which kicks off in July.

But she pushed back at the idea that U.S. Soccer was in disarray less than 3 years before the World Cup will return to North America.

“This is the opportunity for us to take a more holistic view and determine how we can be most effective and efficient moving forward,” Cone said. “While he certainly didn’t plan it this way, this presents us with a great opportunity.”

Cone said U.S. Soccer has retained Sportsology Group, a New York-based advisory company that works with sports franchises and leagues to fill senior leadership roles and redefine their operational strategies.

JT Batson, the chief executive and secretary general of U.S. Soccer, insisted the departures of Mcbride and Stewart were not connected to the controversy surrounding Berhalter’s future.

Following last year’s World Cup in Qatar, the mother of player Gio Reyna, upset about some comments Berhalter made about her son, phoned Stewart to tell him about a 31-year-old physical altercation between Berhalter and the woman who later became his wife. In response, U.S. Soccer hired an Atlanta law firm to investigate the 1991 incident.

Stewart, Mcbride and Berhalter were all teammates on two U.S. World Cup squads captained by Gio’s father, Claudio.

Instead, Batson said, the moves had more to do with opportunity and timing. Stewart’s family remained in the Netherlands when he took the sporting director’s job with U.S. Soccer four years ago and the chance to reunite with them was too good to pass up, so the federation let him out of a contract extension that ran through 2026. He will remain with U.S. Soccer through Feb. 15.

Mcbride, meanwhile, told U.S. Soccer of his desire to leave last fall, before the Qatar World Cup. Cone said she’s uncertain whether Mcbride will be replaced.

Although the federation will continue to review candidates for the open coaching job, the hire will be made by Stewart’s replacement. Berhalter, who has the best winning percentage for a men’s coach in U.S. Soccer history, remains in the running for that job.

The ground under him may have shifted, however. Stewart was a vocal supporter of Berhalter’s work.

Also Thursday, Claudio Reyna stepped down from his leadership role as sporting director of Austin FC.

The 49-year-old Reyna was shifted to a title of technical adviser. He had led the MLS team since 2019 and through its first two seasons on the field in 2021 and 2022.

Club officials declined to comment on whether Reyna’s job change was related to the family dispute.