Charlotte FC fires its first head coach halfway through inaugural MLS season

Charlotte FC head coach Miguel Angel Ramirez was suddenly fired on Tuesday, the team announced.

No substantive explanation was given for the firing, which comes less than halfway through the team’s first Major League Soccer season. Charlotte FC’s performance has been decent so far for an expansion team. The squad is 5-2 at home at Bank of America Stadium, 0-6-1 on the road and sits eighth out of 14 teams in the Eastern Conference, just outside of the playoffs if the season were to end today.

Ramirez coached 14 MLS games for Charlotte FC, going 5-8-1 overall.

“This is a difficult decision, but one we feel is best for the team at this time,” Charlotte FC owner David Tepper said in a statement.

Ramirez was on a three-year contract. Only 10 months ago, he had beaten out about 30 other coaches who were interviewed for the job.

The team’s press release said that sporting director Zoran Krneta and Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue had informed Ramirez that he “will not continue” as the team’s head coach.

Krneta said in a Zoom press conference later Tuesday afternoon that Charlotte FC needed a change of direction, and that the call on firing Ramirez was “a difficult decision and not a decision taken lightly.”

Krneta would not discuss whether there was a philosophical or personal conflict between Ramirez and other team leadership.

“I wouldn’t like to go into details really,” Krneta said. “I mean, it’s not going to help anybody.”

Krneta also said he was “encouraged by the performance of the club so far” and that “the players have nothing to do with this decision,” but also that “many factors” contributed to it.

“We made the decision because we want to be better,” Krneta said, but he repeatedly declined to offer specifics.

Also fired from the club along with Ramirez, were three staffers: Assistant coach Mikel Antia, head fitness coach Cristobal Fuentes Nieto and First Team Video Analyst Luis Piedrahita.

Assistant coach Christian Lattanzio will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season, the team announced. Goalkeeper coach Andy Quy will also remain on staff.

Ramirez, 37, was hired in July 2021 after making his coaching reputation overseas. He called the Charlotte FC job his “American dream” at the time. He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

At the time of his hiring, Tepper said of Ramirez: “He’s not afraid to push the limits. … And we’re not going to be afraid to do something different. ... He’s a very process-oriented, disciplined guy — a guy who’s going to help set a legacy here in Charlotte.”

The move is the latest among several high-profile departures related to Charlotte FC and/or Tepper Sports & Entertainment, which controls Tepper’s sports interests (Tepper also owns the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, and the Panthers and Charlotte FC share Bank of America Stadium).

In February, Tepper Sports & Entertainment president Tom Glick abruptly left his role amid several executive leadership changes. Glick had been instrumental in Charlotte FC’s inaugural season, but departed just before the team’s first season started.

Glick was replaced by Nick Kelly, who had been named Charlotte FC team president in 2020 and, like Glick, had laid much of the groundwork for the first season. Kelly became Tepper Sports CEO, but after only three months on the job suddenly stepped down in early May. Neither departure has ever been fully explained.

Charlotte FC doesn’t have a game this week. The players were told of Ramirez’s firing in a team meeting Tuesday and will be on break until next week. Charlotte FC next plays on June 11.

This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 9:06 AM.