NWSL Offseason 2024-25 head coaching watchlist

There are currently three head coaching vacancies in the National Women's Soccer League: Angel City FC, Houston Dash, and San Diego Wave FC.

All three teams missed the playoffs, finishing 12th, 14th, and 10th respectively. Historic lows for all three clubs, too.

For ACFC and San Diego, this is the first proper coaching search that either 2022 NWSL expansion club has had to do since they hired their inaugural coaches (Freya Coombe and Casey Stoney) back in 2021.

The same cannot be said for the Dash. It's well...more of the same. Turnover, change, and another new head coach. This is the third consecutive offseason with Houston looking for a head coach.

Although the Dash does have a brand new President and GM who will be looking to make the hire.

Now, let's look at some names to watch.

Casey Stoney

(San Diego Wave head coach 2021-2024)

The biggest name out there on the coaching market is Casey Stoney. A proven winner and systems coach who knows how to set out a team to compete. She was a great defender in her day, and her teams have been cut from the same steely cloth.

From 2018-2021 she built Manchester United up from nothing. First winning the English Women's Championship, before then recording consecutive fourth-place finishes in the English Women's Super League.

During her two and a half seasons in San Diego – another expansion club she helped to build from the ground up – she finished third in 2022 and first in 2023. However, she was eliminated from the playoff semifinals in both years. In June 2024, a six-match winless streak (four draws, two losses) saw her harshly sacked.

Is Stoney ready to cross the rivalry divide to Los Angeles?

Yolanda Thomas

(Orlando Pride assistant coach since 2022)

Yolanda Thomas feels like one of the most exciting coaches out there. She is coming off the back of one of the greatest NWSL seasons ever, where the Pride won the Shield and the Championship. A huge part of that was the team culture and elite training environment, which she has helped to forge under head coach Seb Hines.

Thomas holds a USSF 'A' License and already has head coaching experience in her native Oklahoma in the NCAA and WPSL, where she won numerous accolades. She is also a proud voice in coaching circles advocating for Black coaches and mothers who coach.

The NWSL is way overdue for its first Black female head coach. Thomas would be a huge get for one of these clubs. Ready to set the tone and create a foundation. Houston would be lucky to have her.

Of course, Pride look primed to challenge for more trophies in 2025, and perhaps her journey developing her coaching style is not over in Florida.

Carm Moscato

(Racing Louisville assistant coach since 2024)

Prior to joining Louisville, Carm Moscato won LigaMX Femenil as a head coach with UANL Tigres. She departed after one year in Monterrey with a 69% win percentage. Before that, she coached in the Danish women's top division and finished fourth.

Moscato would be a great hire for a team with a big fanbase looking for a head coach to connect with the fans and play footy with thrust. Her Tigres team were physically a cut above, with brilliant wing play and crossing into the box.

Despite a disappointing end to the season, she does seem to have a good thing going with Louisville with head coach Bev Yanez. Moscato would be adept at getting the crowds in LA and San Diego on her side, while perhaps she could fuel the underdog spirit in Texas.

Martin Peter Ho

(SK Brann since 2023)

Formerly Stoney's assistant at Manchester United, Martin Peter Ho has plenty of admirers in both England and Norway. He also has connections to Canada women's interim head coach Andy Spence dating back to their time together at Everton.

In 2023-24 he navigated Brann to the quarter-finals of the Champions League before being knocked out by FC Barcelona. That was followed up by a second-place finish in the Norwegian league and elimination in the 2024-25 Champions League qualifiers.

He might just be ready for a new challenge during the offseason.

Twila Kilgore

(U.S. women's assistant 2022 - 2024)

Currently available for hire after leaving the USA setup earlier this year, Twila Kilgore is someone who has long been tipped for a head coaching role in the NWSL.

After working under Vlatko Andonovski during the disappointing 2023 World Cup run, Kilgore took over as interim until the arrival of Emma Hayes and was successful at winning the 2024 W Gold Cup.

Considering she resides in Houston, Texas, and was an assistant at the Dash for three seasons between 2019-2021, there will be plenty of people linking her there. But her familial ties to California could sway her back west.

International soccer is a very different grind from the NWSL. Should Canada sort out some of their mess, she could be an option to lead their program.

Jonas Eidevall

(Arsenal head coach 2021-2024)

There were a lot of mixed feelings about Jonas Eidevall's three seasons with Arsenal, which ended with the Swede handing in his resignation after just four matches of the 2024-25 WSL season.

Two League Cup trophies and a Champions League semifinal were the highlights, but a consistent failure to mount a league title challenge frustrated the fanbase.

Eidevall was often criticized for not getting up for the "smaller" matches on the schedule. So perhaps the NWSL is the perfect match. A league where truly any team can win, and the quality is spread more evenly. There are no small contests.

Dan Lauletta has reported the Wave are interested.

More names to track for coaching roles:

*Position as head coach unless specified

Margueritte Aozasa – currently UCLA, formerly assistant Stanford
Giles Barnes – currently assistant Pride
Eric Bell – currently TCU
Mariana Cabral (available) – formerly Sporting Lisbon
Ricky Clarke (available) – formerly assistant Dash, Reign
Freya Coombe – currently assistant coach KCC, formerly ACFC, Gotham
Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir – currently Kristianstads DFF
Sam Laity (available) – formerly Dash, assistant Reign
Sarah Lowdon – currently assistant coach Thorns, formerly assistant Dash
Mila Martinez – currently Tigres, formerly Juarez, Suzuka
Ella Masar – currently assistant Chicago, formerly assistant KCC
Lee Nguyen (available) – formerly assistant ACFC, KC, Spirit
Scott Parkinson – currently assistant Reign, formerly Gotham
Mark Parsons (available) – formerly Thorns, Spirit, Holland WNT
Angela Salem – currently assistant Bay, formerly assistant Spirit
Becki Tweed (available) – formerly ACFC
Amelia Valverde – currently Rayadas, formerly Costa Rica