Chris Armas emerges as the front-runner for D.C. United coaching job
It’s unclear whether United has extended an offer or continues to consider others, such as MLS assistants Gonzalo Pineda (Seattle Sounders) and Pat Noonan (Philadelphia Union).
With the search narrowing, United has focused on Armas, said three people who are from outside the organization but familiar with the process. He had a 29-21-11 regular season record in two-plus seasons leading the Red Bulls.
United officials said they did not want to comment, except to say they plan to make a hire sometime this month.
Ron Waxman, Armas’s agent, said he did not want to comment.
Armas, 48, is among only a few candidates to proceed beyond the initial round of interviews and speak with both United chairmen, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan. Columbus Crew assistant Ezra Hendrickson also interviewed with those executives but seems to have fallen out of the race.
Chad Ashton, a longtime D.C. assistant who was appointed interim coach in early October, was under consideration but not expected to receive an offer.
Ellis, the first woman considered for an MLS head coaching position, is believed to be waiting for an opportunity to return to the international arena. She has never coached on the club level.
United has also spoken to several foreign candidates, but in MLS’s 24-year history, only one coach with no previous U.S. soccer experience has won the league championship. Many have been frustrated by MLS’s salary cap and single-entity structure.
Armas, who made 66 appearances for the U.S. national team, has been involved in MLS much of his adult life: 12 seasons as a standout defensive midfielder with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chicago Fire, one season as a Chicago assistant coach and 3 ½ seasons as a Red Bulls assistant.
Midway through the 2018 season, he was promoted after Jesse Marsch pursued European opportunities. The Red Bulls went 12-3-3 the rest of the year, finishing 22-7-5 and winning the Supporters’ Shield for earning the most regular season points. They lost to Atlanta in the Eastern Conference finals.
In 2019, after the organization sold rising star Tyler Adams to parent club RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, the Red Bulls went 14-14-6 and lost to Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs.
This season, with a 3-4-2 record and seven goals scored, Armas was fired in early September following a 1-0 home loss to United.
Five weeks later, mired in a seven-game winless streak, United ousted longtime coach Ben Olsen. The club finished with a 5-12-6 record and 21 points, tied for second fewest in the 26-team league.
D.C. is conducting a coaching search for the first time since an ownership change in 2012. Olsen was in charge since late in the 2010 season, MLS’s second-longest tenure behind Kansas City’s Peter Vermes.
