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How Nashville SC compares to other MLS teams that fired their coaches early in season
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- How Nashville SC compares to other MLS teams that fired their coaches early in season
Nashville SC became the first team this season to fire its coach when it dismissed Gary Smith on May 16. Although Smith's firing happened less than three months into the season, there's plenty of precedent for such a move.
From 2021 to 2023, eight MLS teams fired their coaches during the first half of the season. Here's a breakdown of those firings, and how Nashville's situation compares:
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Fired MLS coaches fell victim to poor starts
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the teams that fired their coaches early were almost invariably struggling.
At the time of the dismissals, the clubs had a combined record of 18-45-24, good for 0.9 points per game. Their average conference position was 13th, and overall 25th. None were in playoff position.
None had a better record than Charlotte FC in 2022. The first-year club fired Miguel Ángel Ramírez when it was 5-8-1, 18th in the Supporters' Shield race and eighth in the Eastern Conference.
MLS teams took time to hire coaches
Just half of the teams hired a permanent coach that same season.
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D.C. United fired Hernán Losada on April 20, 2022, after just six games. It took nearly three months to find his replacement, Wayne Rooney, who made his coaching debut on July 31. The club played 14 league games during that span. Atlanta United had a quicker search in 2021, hiring Gonzalo Pineda three weeks and eight games after firing Gabriel Heinze.
Last season, Inter Miami fired Phil Neville on June 1. A month later, the Herons had their man, Gerardo Martino, though the speed and outcome of that search was heavily influenced by their signing of Lionel Messi .
The 2022 San Jose Earthquakes hired Luchi Gonzalez in August, four months after dismissing Matías Almeyda, but allowed interim coach Alex Covelo to man the touchlines the rest of the season.
The 2023 New York Red Bulls , 2023 Chicago Fire, 2022 Charlotte and 2021 Toronto FC didn't bother with an in-season search, naming interim coaches through the end of the season immediately after firing their coaches.
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MLS teams improve after firing coaches early — but it's hard not to
Overall, the eight teams finished the season in an average position of 11th in their conferences and 22nd overall. They earned 1.2 points per game under interim and replacement coaches, a 33% improvement.
Still, just two clubs made the playoffs. Atlanta won 11 of 21 games under Pineda and interim coach Rob Vaughn, going from 10th in the East to fifth. The Red Bulls, who were dead last in the East under Gerhard Struber, flourished under Troy Lesesne, going 10-9-4 to close the season and clinching a playoff berth on Decision Day.
MORE: How Nashville SC will be affected by Summer Olympics, Copa América
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GENTRY ESTES: What did Gary Smith's firing mean for Nashville SC? Probably a lot more changes
How Nashville SC compares
Nashville is in a different position than the majority of clubs that made similarly quick changes. It was 3-4-5 and in 10th place in the East (19th in the Supporters' Shield race) when Smith was fired.
When general manager Mike Jacobs explained his rationale for firing Smith , he said that he wanted to make the change while there was still plenty of time, implying a relatively rapid search for a permanent coach. Already, that sets Nashville apart. Jacobs fired Smith in an attempt to escape mediocrity, not the cellar.
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Under interim coach Rumba Munthali , Nashville has gone 1-1-2. If it continues at that point-per-game pace for the rest of the season, it would finish with 42 points, which would have left it outside the playoffs in 2023.
If NSC improved at the average rate of the eight clubs to make similar moves since 2021, though, it would finish with 48 points. In 2023, Nashville earned 49 points and was the seventh seed in the East. Of course, that might be a harder ask, seeing as the other eight clubs had more room for improvement than Nashville.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Nashville SC compares to other MLS early season coach firings
