Minnesota United dismiss Adrian Heath - What will come next for the Loons?

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Major League Soccer club Minnesota United have responded to what has been a disappointing campaign and released head coach Adrian Heath. The club also announced that assistant coach Sean McAuley will be taking over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. 

Staff

A. Heath Age: 63

Minnesota United FC

All seasons -
All competitions

Games

251

Won

97

Draw

51

Lost

103

“We are grateful to Adrian for his dedication to our club and for all that we have accomplished over the last seven seasons,” Minnesota United CEO Shari Ballard said in a club statement. “This was a difficult decision, but we believe that the time is right to move in a new direction. Whenever a club decides to make a coaching change, there is a tendency to focus only on the end of that coach’s tenure; however, the conclusion of Adrian’s time with MNUFC should not diminish his significant contributions to our club. His passion and hard work have been enormously impactful, and we thank him for all that he has done for MNUFC and for our community.”

Interim McCauley becomes just the second head coach in the club’s MLS history. Heath, in fact, has been there since before the club joined MLS in 2017. Heath has overseen 251 games at the club and has averaged 1.36 points per game. After failing to reach the playoffs in 2017 and 2018, Heath has guided the Loons to the postseasons four times in a row. But that run now appears to come to an end as Minnesota sit 12th in the Western Conference and, with just two games remaining, are three points out of the playoff picture. 

Adrian Heath is gone – What will come next for Minnesota United? 

Although the Loons have made the playoffs four times in a row, the only relative success came during the 2020 COVID season when Minnesota reached the Western Conference finals. The Loons have mostly been a playoff disappointing, going out in the first round three times. On top of that, it was only thanks to late runs that Minnesota made the playoffs in the first place. 

The question is, who will be next for Minnesota United? The club will certainly want to hire an ambitious head coach who can not only guide the club to the playoffs but also facilitate a deep run on a consistent basis. But hiring a new head coach might not be enough. There is also investment needed in the club’s personnel. In an increasingly ambitious league, the Loons' record arrival remains Emanuel Reynoso—the disgruntled Argentine, who missed much of the season with “personal issues”—and the club was sixth from bottom in salary spending last summer.