What names make sense as Toronto FC begins its untimely coaching search?

TORONTO — John Herdman’s resignation as head coach of Toronto FC last week has put the struggling Major League Soccer club in a bind. 

This off-season was already shaping up to be one of the most important in franchise history after TFC finished 11th in MLS’s Eastern Conference in 2024 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for a fourth straight year. This winter was going to be dedicated to achieving two main objectives in an attempt to get the club back on course.  

First, strengthening a defence that conceded a whopping 61 times this season is an absolute must for Toronto. Second, a striker with a proven track record as a goal scorer has to be secured in order to bolster an anemic attacking unit. With 40 goals, Toronto had one of the weakest offensive records in the league – only Austin FC (39), Nashville SC (38) and the New England Revolution (37) scored fewer goals. 

Now, finding a replacement for Herdman before the start of the 2025 MLS regular season tops TFC’s growing to-do list. History shows that coaching this team is somewhat of a poisoned chalice. Toronto has hired and fired no less than 14 coaches since its inaugural MLS campaign in 2007, including five over the last four years. Only five coaches in the club’s history have lasted more than one season, and just one (Greg Vanney, from 2014-2020) was on the job beyond two years. 

Who might be so fearless to accept the challenge of taking charge of a team that goes through coaches as if it were nothing? There are plenty of available candidates out there. But if Toronto is looking for someone with coaching experience in MLS and who knows the vagaries and intricacies of the league, it could do a lot worse than hiring Jim Curtin. 

Curtin, 45, followed a similar career path as Vanney, cutting his teeth in MLS as a player for several years. He then joined the Philadelphia Union as a part of their youth academy system before being promoted to assistant coach and finally taking over as head coach in 2014. 

Under Curtin’s watch, Philadelphia was transformed from an underachieving team into a top contender, and he was twice named the MLS coach of the year (2020 and 2022). In Curtin’s 10 full seasons at the helm, the Union qualified for the playoffs seven times, winning one regular season championship and reaching the MLS Cup final (both in 2022) along the way. Such consistency was achieved without the benefit of a star-studded roster — Philadelphia routinely had one of the lowest team payrolls in MLS during Curtin’s reign. 

A disappointing 2024 season saw the Union finish 12th in the Eastern Conference and miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The club responded by parting ways with Curtin last month. 

An argument can be made that Philadelphia should have more to show for itself under Curtin, who was the second-longest-tenured head coach in the league at the time of his firing. But if Toronto wants an MLS-experienced coach with a reputation for nurturing young players, then Curtin would be a good fit and has to be considered the leading candidate. 

Other coaches who recently left their posts at MLS clubs this year and who might be looking to take on the job at Toronto include Tata Martino (Inter Miami) and Vanni Sartini (Vancouver Whitecaps). 

Martino, 62, left Miami in November of his own accord due to personal reasons after guiding the Herons to an incredible 2024 campaign that saw them finish top of the overall table and set a record for the most points (74) in a single season. However, it didn’t lead to anything, as Miami suffered a shocking loss to Atlanta United, bowing out in Round 1 of the playoffs. 

The Argentinian coach has a wealth of international experience having coached FC Barcelona and several national teams, including his home country, Mexico and Paraguay. He also won an MLS Cup and was named the league’s coach of the year in 2018 with Atlanta. Hiring a coach of Martino’s reputation and name value would be a major coup for Toronto. 

In somewhat of a surprise, Sartini, 48, was let go by the Whitecaps last month after four seasons in charge. During his tenure, the Whitecaps won a trio of Canadian Championships, but never advanced beyond Round One of the MLS playoffs. 

Sartini is a colourful character with a vibrant personality both on and off the field, something that Toronto is in desperate need of after suffering through four drab seasons. The Italian manager might also be able to relate better to Italian DP Lorenzo Insigne, who has been a major disappointment for TFC since coming to MLS in 2022 from Serie A club Napoli. 

If Toronto FC wanted to think outside of the box, it might consider Bobby Smyrniotis, who is regarded as one of the best coaches in the Canadian Premier League. 

Hamilton-based Forge FC has won four CPL championships and has reached the finals in all six years since the league’s formation in 2019. Forge has also carved out some success in other competitions, reaching the semifinals of the Canadian Championship, the final four of the Concacaf League and the Round of 16 in the Concacaf Champions League. 

At the heart of Forge FC is Smyrniotis, a 45-year-old from Scarborough, Ont., who is the only coach the team has ever known and one of the chief architects of its seemingly endless run of success. He was named the league’s coach of the year in 2024, guiding Forge to a first-place finish and a spot in the CPL finals where it lost to Cavalry FC of Calgary. 

Smyrniotis has never coached professionally outside of the CPL, so a jump to the MLS would be a big step for him. But he’s proven that he can build cohesive teams with a clear identity that relies on a healthy mix of youngsters and veterans.