The San Jose Earthquakes filled their head coaching vacancy in the form of one of MLS’ well-known figures.
Bruce Arena has been hired as the new head coach and sporting director of the Quakes, the club announced Thursday. Arena brings over five decades of coaching experience to San Jose, most recently serving as head coach of the New England Revolution until September 2023.
“Bruce is the most accomplished coach in American soccer history, and we are thrilled to bring him to San Jose,” said Earthquakes Managing Partner John Fisher. “With an unsurpassed track record at all levels of soccer in our country that includes numerous MLS Cups and Supporters’ Shields, he’s the ideal choice to lead the Earthquakes. We know he will help get the club back to the level that San Jose and the Bay Area deserve, winning games and competing for championships.”
Arena has won five MLS Cups, four Supporters’ Shields, one CONCACAF Champions Cup, and one U.S. Open Cup during his career. He has won the most regular-season games (262) and postseason games (35) in MLS history and been named MLS Coach of the Year a record four times.
On the international level, Arena led the U.S. men’s national team to two FIFA World Cups, while making the quarterfinals for the first time in 72 years. He won the CONCACAF Gold Cup three times and holds the USMNT record with 81 victories.
“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to come to San Jose,” said Arena. “I coached my first ever professional game at Spartan Stadium in 1996 — the first game in MLS history — and my first international game with the U.S. in 1998 was in San Jose as well. The Earthquakes and Northern California have a proud soccer tradition. There’s a lot of potential with the club, and I am looking forward to working with everyone here to unlock that potential and get back to winning ways.”
General Manager Chris Leitch will report to Arena in the 73-year-old’s new role in San Jose.
The Quakes failed to make the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2024 for the third time in the past four seasons.
Given how badly the Earthquakes have been for so long, he certainly can’t hurt them. Any improvement will make Arena look good. They basically have no way to go but up. A safe selection for both Arena and San Jose upper management.
they never did say what he got canned for in new england. and him being out a few years then signed in an offseason is kind of like he got paid for the remainder of the old contract but also had a non-compete.
i read “san” and was like, oh, landon hired him, that’s an interesting reunion. he makes more sense than varas. but, no, it’s SJ. who are so bad it’s like an expansion team laden with contracts and existing cap spend to work around. but he’s built programs over and over so we’ll see if he can do it again.
From Jeff Carlisle on ESPN.com
Arena: “It was just staff joking around with each other in private. I accept any of the criticism and I’m moving forward.”
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Landon works for the women’s team in San Diego not the men’s who hired Varas. His ownership group lost the expansion sweepstakes to the Right to Dream folks.
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Bruce said ownership promised him they were looking to spend more money. I guess we’ll see.
Great move by San Jose!
If they are willing to spend.
Good luck to Bruce. Few, if any, have done more for USA soccer!