We haven’t heard a great deal about Atlanta United’s head coaching search outside of Patrick Vieira‘s apparent interest. But another name appears to have been on Garth Lagerwey’s list of candidates: Jim Curtin.
According to Tom Bogert, Atlanta approached the longtime Philadelphia Union boss regarding the role, but he declined an interview.
At first glance, it makes sense that Curtin, the second-longest tenured head coach in MLS (behind Peter Vermes) would turn Atlanta down: he’s from the Philadelphia area and it’d be tough to move his family from a place where he has deep roots. However, while the Union, under primary owner Jay Sugarman and sporting director Ernst Tanner, have preferred a more academy-based, homegrown approach to roster construction — not coincidentially, the Union have the fifth-lowest payroll in the league — Curtin would have vastly expanded resources in Atlanta, although Lagerwey has vowed to take a more reasoned, calculated approach moving forward.
Reading between the lines here, though, it’s clear that Lagerwey isn’t excluding current MLS coaches from his search. Some coaches will be less attainable than others, but Atlanta at least felt there was some chance at Curtin. One red flag, though: the Union missed the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017, and whether it’s because Sugarman and Tanner have failed to truly set him up for success or if it’s down to an inability to adjust tactically on his part is an intriguing debate in both Union and league-wide circles.
That said, it’s interesting to hear Curtin’s name surface as a possible candidate for Atlanta United. And it remains to be seen who else comes up, whether tied to MLS or not.
photo credit Morgan Tencza – Imagn Images
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As others have said, glad this didn’t go through. Regarding this season, there’s a simple explanation why the Onion was so bad: Andre Blake missed half the season. They were 1.46 PPG in the 13 games he played the whole game, 0.9 PPG in the 20 without plus the game he got injured in the 6th minute.
Thank goodness. I might have stopped following the team
His brand of football is awful. Makes me question Lagerway’s viewpoint.
I threw up a little when I read the title. Thank God this didn’t progress further. Some people you don’t want to associate yourself with because of their character… he is one of them.
Thank freaking god. What the hell is Garth thinking? He’s been here long enough to know better.
We need a coach not a “diving” instructor!😁😂
obviously most Atlanta fans would not be excited about him, but it is still good to see some leaks come out regarding our HC position. Would be nice to see some leaks regarding our TD position as well…
I think I would rather have a usl coach than Curtin, even if the team would do better otherwise.
Good, I didn’t want him
In the name of all that is right and holy — please, god, no.
The only person associated with this organization that has Jim Curtin on their list is Garth. Most likely a hard pass from literally everyone else that follows this team.
No thanks