Tab Ramos is back on the sidelines with the National Soccer Hall of Famer set for his first spell as a head coach in the USL.
Ramos was hired as the new head coach of USL Championship club Hartford Athletic, the club announced. The 55-year-old most recently served as head coach of the Houston Dynamo from 2020-21, posting a 10-26-21 record with the MLS side.
He will officially begin his role with Hartford on September 1.
“Tab Ramos is a giant in American soccer and among the most highly regarded coaches in the country. We are thrilled to have him as our head coach,” said Hartford Athletic chairman Bruce Mandell.
“Our goal is to bring championships to Hartford, and there is no coach better suited to get us there than Tab Ramos. He raises the bar for our technical staff and soccer operations and will provide critical direction to our expanding youth academy program.”
Ramos has spent most of his coaching career within U.S. Soccer, managing the U.S. Under-20 men’s national team from 2011-19. Ramos led the USMNT U-20’s to four FIFA U-20 World Cups (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019), reaching the quarterfinals in the last three editions. He also led the USMNT U-20’s to back-to-back successes at the Concacaf U-20 Championship in 2017 and 2018.
As a player, Ramos earned 81 caps with the USMNT, featuring in three FIFA World Cups. Ramos spent seven seasons with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars at club level, while also featuring in Spain with Real Betis and Figueres.
Hartford Athletic sits 11th in the 14-team Eastern Conference with 20 points earned through 25 matches.
Don’t really know what went down in Houston, but it wasn’t a good gig for him. Houston has real issues from top to bottom. No reason they shouldn’t have a top academy. I have personally seen the amount of talent in the Houston area and it’s ridiculous. Dynamo need to get their act together.
You have to think there’s something behind the scenes working against Tab. It’s odd that Houston was seemingly his only option and then when that didn’t work he had to go to USL. It’s strange he’s a NT legend and was very successful with U20s.
all due respect but as a HD fan when i saw him coming here i was like why hasn’t he coached in college or the minors or “something long season” first. so he’s going to go where he belonged and get a reboot. i was not impressed with our “twin 8” tactics or soft zone defense. like eredivisie defending but without offense. i wondered whether the U20 talent flattered him (and you have to remember he cut aaronson). personal experience a school coach with a loaded team can roll out the ball and go deep in competitions and win coaching awards, and not have much clue at all. i thought U20 was even better than it finished, and i thought HD, while not very good, was not a last place roster. ramirez and urruti are both going to have double digit goal seasons in their first year gone after struggling here. i personally see the problem as abstractly pimping certain dutch tactics and pushing “identity” or “culture” regardless what the league requires or roster provides. tactics aren’t usually aspirational, not if you have a brain cell in your head. you play what the roster will handle — or — you go recruit people suited to play your way. eg you don’t decide you’re going to be a dutch/90s england 433 crossing team when your wings suck and can’t find a striker to save their lives. or go with double 8s when your mids are good for like 1G 1A a season. you will starve for chances and should get fired. worse, the defense was as passive as i have ever seen short of holland itself.
yeah, this area produced holden, shea, and a few others. neither the texans (traditional select) nor the dynamo seem to be getting it done. richards, the servanias, cappis, and others passed through town and either avoided the academy or didn’t stay long. some went straight to FCD instead. FCD plays their kids and sells to europe routinely. HD parks herrera, vera, and coco in front of raines. so they don’t win with the veterans but the kids are buried and see few minutes. there are very few academy grads (memo) actually starting and integrated long term. even with the veterans struggling and the creation of the nextpro team the kids are only playing in injury emergencies or cup games.
personally i think part of the problem is the GM work is so bad the teams end up marginal or bad and the coaches feel pressure to keep and favor bad holdover players to save their jobs, so it never gets blown up like it needs to be. austin is willing to cut DPs and sign new ones. is willing to churn the roster including players who nominally have contract time left. we carry bad deals. the players we tend to cut are not seeing any time. that doesn’t change how the lineup is made or performs.
personally i think it’s a cheapness thing. the DPs appeared to be the product of a sponsor deal. the DPs were poorly chosen. beyond them we seem to be picking around U20 teams and the remainder bin. and other than raines i am unimpressed who we find. which, most teams could find a decent player or two if they signed a ton of people. if by accident.
Wanted to see it go better for him in MLS. I think a lot of people forget what a special player that guy was.
Right there with you SG. Ramos was one of the standard bearers of the midfield in the late 80s and early 90s. One of the guys that could keep posession and relieve pressure in USMNT games when we desperately needed someone who could hold the ball. USMNT opponents respected him. You know how it is——– great players don’t automatically make good coaches. But I think Tabare will do well. He has always been a fighter, and he knows what it takes to succeed. Good on ‘ya Tab!