Add another name to the New England Revolution’s list of head coaching candidates.
Former Revs attacker and current US men’s national team assistant coach Pat Noonan has interviewed for the club’s managerial position, according to a source with knowledge of the talks.
The source also said that New England will speak to longtime Revolution midfielder and current San Jose assistant coach Steve Ralston about the job. Ralston is currently helping the Quakes prep for their Knockout Round matchup at Vancouver on Wednesday (10:30 pm ET; UniMas in the US | TSN1/3/4/5, TVAS2 in Canada).
Kristian Dyer reported that Ralston “was in the mix” for the Revs’ job during MSG’s broadcast of the New York Red Bulls’ 2-1 win at D.C. United on Sunday. He also reported that the club have already interviewed US U-18 national team head coach Omid Namazi and are expected to speak about their coaching job with former USMNT goalkeeper and US U-19 coach Brad Friedel and New York Cosmos manager and ex-Revolution striker Giovanni Savarese.
Noonan, 37, was drafted by New England in 2003 and remained with the club through 2007. He recorded 37 goals and 29 assists in 119 regular season appearances for the Revs. He retired from playing after winning the 2012 MLS Cup with the LA Galaxy and immediately joined Bruce Arena’s staff as an assistant coach. He left the Galaxy to work under Arena as an USMNT assistant last November and is still on staff with the national team despite Arena’s recent resignation.
Second in MLS history to Landon Donovan with 135 career assists and third all-time among field players with 378 regular season appearances, Ralston played for New England from 2002-2009. He recorded 47 goals and 73 assists in 201 regular season appearances with the Revs, and is one of just three players to start all four of the club’s MLS Cup appearances.
The MLS original joined Dominic Kinnear’s coaching staff in Houston in July 2010, then moved with Kinnear to San Jose following the 2014 season. The 43-year-old remained with the club after Kinnear’s dismissal in June.
The Revolution fired former head coach Jay Heaps, a longtime New England teammate of both Ralston and Noonan, in September after the team had fallen out of playoff contention. Former assistant Tom Soehn took over as interim head coach following Heaps’ dismissal, posting a 3-1-1 record in five matches.
A New England spokesperson declined to comment on Tuesday.
