SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes’ makeover took another leap forward Friday with the official announcement of Mikael Stahre as the club’s new head coach.
It is the second coaching change inside six months for the Quakes, who jettisoned Dominic Kinnear in June and gave the position – with no “interim” tag attached – to technical director Chris Leitch. San Jose also installed a new general manager (Jesse Fioranelli was named in January) and team president (Tom Fox arrived in June) in 2017, completing a full turnover from the club’s old guard.
The 42-year-old Stahre comes to San Jose with extensive experience in his native Sweden, where he led BK Hacken this year to a fourth-place finish in the country’s top flight. He also made stops in Greece and China in a head coaching career that dates back to 2007.
“I think the priorities that we have for the next years to come align themselves very much with [Stahre's] skillset and especially his track record,” Fioranelli told reporters in a conference call Friday.
Fioranelli was impressed by Stahre’s level of knowledge regarding the Quakes and his level of preparation during the interview process.
“What I really appreciated with Mikael was that he knew the team very well,” Fioranelli said. “He was in fact, interested and maybe even concerned to know which players are going to be here and which players can he count on in 2018. … Maybe I can put it into Mikael’s own words, because that’s the way he said it: ‘I really care about my own team.’”
Fioranelli said the Quakes spoke to a number of coaching candidates before paring the choices to a shortlist of three. The possibilities included not only those from the United States but also Europe and South America; that represented a broadening of horizons for a club which, since its 2008 rebirth as an expansion side, had relied on former MLS players as coaches.
Fioranelli had crossed paths with Stahre while the former was working for Italian club Lazio, and contact was established by Stahre’s agent.
“When I realized there was an opportunity that we could pursue, I wanted to dig a little bit deeper,” Fioranelli said. “He is a coach that we know very well. We know how he plays. We know how he communicates. We know how players feel his presence and accept his guidance.”
Stahre brings an impressive record as a head coach – Fioranelli pointed out multiple pieces of silverware won with Swedish sides as well as a points-per-game average of more than 1.7. He also has a wealth of coaching background compared to Leitch, who was serving in his first high-profile job leading an organization’s first team.
Fioranelli said he was “most struck” by the fact that former players under Stahre told the Quakes that he gave them “a sense of security” and that they felt they could improve, even as older players on the squad. That security was perhaps especially alluring since San Jose showed themselves to be so volatile in suffering several heavy defeats over the second half of 2017.
“We here in San Jose, we care about this very much,” Fioranelli said. “I know that it is our job to put the players in a position so that we can grow, year for year for year. And I think with Mikael, we have a great leader taking the helm of the first team.”
Leitch, who never relinquished the title of technical director, will stay in that role after going 7-8-2 while leading San Jose to their first MLS Cup postseason berth in five years.
“He is a very important member of the club,” Fioranelli said of Leitch. “For that reason, we said, ‘Let’s do what we did very well for the first six months, him as technical director, and head into 2018 that way.’”
Alex Covelo, who took over as an assistant after Kinnear and John Spencer left, will similarly move back to his previous job as director of methodology. Fioranelli said assistant coach Steve Ralston – the lone remaining member of the technical staff with extensive MLS experience – is expected to remain with the Quakes.
