Former Union coach and Philly-area native Jim Curtin becomes head of MLS’s Austin FC

After parting ways with the Union in 2024, Jim Curtin has a new head coaching job.

Read more Five Below has officially eliminated its above-$5 section

Austin FC announced Monday afternoon that it hired Curtin, a Philadelphia-area native who led the Union for 11 seasons.

Curtin will start his new job with the Verde after the 2026 Major League Soccer season, scheduled to finish in December.

“I am incredibly honored to be named the head coach of Austin FC,” Curtin said via statement. “This is a moment I will never forget, and I’m grateful to [club owner] Anthony Precourt, [club president] Andy Loughnane, and the club’s ownership group for the trust placed in me. “From our very first conversation, they shared a vision for Austin FC that is bold, ambitious, and built for the long term. Their belief in what this club can become is contagious, and I’m proud to help bring that vision to life.”

Austin is one of seven MLS franchises that fired a head coach before the league went on hiatus for the FIFA World Cup this summer. The club fired sporting director Rodolfo Borrell and head coach Nico Estévez on May 18 after it got off to a 3-6-5 (20 points) start in league play.

The Union became the seventh team to part ways with a coach when they dismissed Bradley Carnell alongside sporting director Ernst Tanner in May.

Read more Mike Gansey’s career started in Cleveland. Here’s how that experience will inform his role as Sixers president of basketball operations.

While the Union are searching for a replacement for Carnell, Austin has nabbed a former Union head coach off the market. Curtin said in Austin’s release that he had “several other opportunities, both within MLS and abroad, but none of them excited me the way [Austin] did.”

Curtin, who played at Villanova, took over the Union in 2014 and led the club to a 145-121-92 record over more than a decade on the touchline. The Union made the playoffs seven times under Curtin, winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2020 and reaching the MLS Cup finals in 2022.

Curtin was named the MLS Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2022.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, the Union parted ways with Curtin at the end of the 2024 regular season. The club hired Carnell to replace Curtin in January 2025.

Curtin’s first season in charge in Austin will be the 2027 “sprint” season, a 14-game season that will facilitate MLS’ move to a summer-to-spring league calendar. He will take over for current interim head coach Davy Arnaud, who will lead Austin through the remainder of the 2026 season.

The 2026 MLS season will resume after the World Cup, with matches resuming on July 16. The Union’s first game back will be at home against Red Bull New York on July 22 (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

Read more Mike Gansey plans to build around Sixers’ current core while growing the team’s culture: ‘I want fountains, not drains’