Reports in San Jose indicate that the Earthquakes are set to name a new head coach ahead of the 2018 MLS season.
ESPNFC's Jeff Carlisle and SoccerByIves' Joel Soria confirmed news that emerged from Swedish outlets early Thursday morning that Mikael Stahre would replace Chris Leitch as head coach.
The 42-year-old Stahre, who started his career coaching in the youth ranks, has mainly plied his trade in his native Sweden, most recently at BK Hacken, leading them to a 4th-place finish in the recently concluded Swedish Allsvenskan season. He has also previously managed in China (Dalian Yifang from January 2015-July 2016) and in Greece for a six-month spell (Panionios from April-October 2010).
The 38-year-old Leitch, a former MLS player and academy director for the Quakes, added head coaching duties to his technical director title when the club fired long-time head coach Dominic Kinnear on June 25 following a 6W-6L-5D start.
San Jose went 7W-8L-2D under Leitch, advancing to the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs, where they were quickly dispatched after a hefty 5-0 defeat to Vancouver in a Western Conference Knockout Round match. It's unclear whether Leitch would remain with the club in another capacity.
Stahre's hiring would mark the seventh coaching change of 2017, including Leitch taking over for Kinnear. Stahre would also be the second Swede to ever manage an MLS club after Hans Backe led the New York Red Bulls to a 41W-26L-31D record between 2010 and 2012.
