May 27, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Bradley Carnell had the Union looking like one of MLS' best clubs a year ago. Now he's out as their head coach.
The Union fired head coach Bradley Carnell, not even a full year removed from the club winning Major League Soccer's Supporters' Shield for the league's most points and Carnell winning Coach of the Year honors afterward because of it.
The news broke Wednesday, as first reported by The Athletic's Tom Bogert, and as the Union went into a World Cup break at the bottom of MLS' standings.
Carnell succeeded former longtime coach Jim Curtin with the Union on a downswing and revitalized the club quickly, pushing them to consistently overachieve, clinch the Supporters' Shield, and then go into the MLS Playoffs as a championship contender all within his first year before they fell to New York City FC in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
That run, though, proved unsustainable.
In the background, reports and then an investigation into sporting director Ernst Tanner for the use of " inappropriate and insensitive comments" led MLS to suspend Tanner in March until June 1 of this year without pay.
Meanwhile, during the offseason, the Union cut payroll, which saw the exits of several key players, including Tai Baribo, their leading scorer last season with 16 goals, and Kai Wagner, their top playmaker with a club-best 11 assists.
So far this season, the Union have shown not to have anywhere near enough to sustain those departures.
Entering the World Cup break, which they won't return from until July 22, the Union are 1-10-4, with a minus-12 goal differential and just seven points in the standings, which leaves them dead-last in MLS, and now looking for their third coach in as many years.
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