UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a statement from the New York Red Bulls on Jesse Marsch's status. It originally ran on Jan. 11, 2017 at 5:34 pm ET.
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Following reports that New York Red Bulls Jesse Marsch was in talks to take the head coaching job at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg, New York said in a club statement that Marsch would be returning to the bench at Red Bull Arena to start the 2017 season.
Multiple sources had told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday that Marsch was in serious talks to take the head coaching job at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg.
Salzburg and New York are both owned by Red Bull, which also operates German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.
A Red Bulls spokesperson confirmed to MLSsoccer.com on Monday that Marsch, who won the Supporters’ Shield in his first year with New York in 2015 and led the Red Bulls to the top Eastern Conference regular season record last year, was in Europe meeting with Red Bull executives. He was not in L.A. for the adidas MLS Player Combine, which concluded Thursday.
If Marsch had left New York, sources said that former Chicago Fire head coach Denis Hamlett or ex-Fire midfielder Chris Armas would've taken over as the Red Bulls' head coach. Both have served as assistants for the entirety of Marsch’s two years in New York.
Both Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig are currently on their winter breaks. Salzburg are currently in second place in the Austrian Bundesliga with a 12-4-4 record through their first 20 matches, two points behind Altach for the league’s top spot. The three-time defending Austrian champions, Salzburg are currently managed by former Barcelona player Oscar Garcia, who was reportedly in consideration for the now-filled Malaga head coaching job last month and has been linked to other multiple other jobs. They’ve qualified for the last five editions of the UEFA Champions League.
Considered by many to be one of the top young American coaches, Marsch, 43, has had a great deal of regular season success since taking the Red Bulls job ahead of the 2015 season, leading the club to the Supporters’ Shield in 2015 and third-best regular season record in the league in 2016. Only FC Dallas have totaled more regular season points than the Red Bulls in the last two years.
A former midfielder with D.C. United, Chicago and Chivas USA, Marsch totaled 321 regular season appearances and won three MLS Cups in his 14-year playing career.
After retiring as a player following the 2009 MLS season, he served under Bob Bradley as an assistant coach with the US men’s national team in 2010 and 2011. He was the Montreal Impact's head coach for their inaugural MLS season in 2012, guiding the expansion club to a respectable 12-16-6 record before parting ways with them following the season. He has a 52-38-23 regular-season record in his three full seasons as a head coach and was named MLS Coach of the Year in 2015.
Marsch periodically worked as an analyst for MLSsoccer.com during the 2013 and 2014 MLS seasons.
