Report: Atlanta United hiring Chris Henderson as sporting director

Tommy Scoops is at it again! A report from Tom Bogert on Sunday night revealed that Atlanta United is hiring Chris Henderson as its new sporting director. The news comes months after the Five Stripes fired former technical director Carlos Bocanegra, and arrives as a refreshing first step in what’s been described as Atlanta United’s biggest offseason in its relatively short history.

Garth Lagerwey had recently revealed that the club was in the final stages of hiring both a sporting director and a new head coach. He’s also noted multiple times that an important part of filling the two vacancies was making sure the new coach and new sporting director worked well together, so it’s no stretch to imagine a coaching announcement will arrive fairly shortly after the club makes the official announcement of Henderson.

Chris Henderson arrives after a stint with Inter Miami, where he helped build a solid squad on the back of roster restrictions imposed by MLS due to actions from the prior front office. He rose to that challenge, and was also instrumental in helping Miami milk every drop of available roster space with the addition of guys like Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and Luis Suarez.

Prior to Miami, Henderson was a longstanding ally of Garth Lagerwey himself up in Seattle. A quick glance at Seattle’s consistency over the past decade will reveal all that needs to be said about the talent Henderson brings to Atlanta’s front office.

This news would be massive regardless, but Atlanta currently has two designated player spots open and a smorgasbord of roster potential – not to mention Arthur Blank’s pocketbook at his disposal. Couple that with an incoming coach, and the pieces are slowly starting to fall into place for Atlanta United’s 2025.

Here’s genuinely hoping the club gives this man the nicest office in the building.