MLS Austin FC

Claudio Reyna Resigns as Sporting Director, to Continue with Austin FC as Technical Advisor

Published on January 26, 2023 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Austin FC News Release


Austin, TEXAS - Austin FC announced today that Claudio Reyna has transitioned into a Technical Advisor role, from the Club's Sporting Director. In addition to his responsibilities as Head Coach, Josh Wolff will now serve as the Club's Chief Soccer Officer on an interim basis and lead Austin FC's sporting department. Sean Rubio, who has served alongside Wolff and Reyna as Director of Player Personnel since August 2020, has been promoted to Interim Sporting Director as part of the restructuring.

"We're grateful for Claudio's contributions to both our Club and our community," said Austin FC Majority Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Precourt. "Claudio has been committed to the cause of building a Club that inspires Austin, and he will remain in a position to contribute to our organization."

"I am grateful that Anthony and the organization have given me the opportunity to scale back my role and responsibilities while continuing to contribute to the success of a club that I love," said Austin FC Technical Advisor Claudio Reyna. "I take great pride in what we have accomplished but am looking forward to a less all-consuming work pace that still permits me to assist ongoing club development."

To help ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities, Reyna will remain with Austin FC as a Technical Advisor, while Head Coach Josh Wolff, and Interim Sporting Director Sean Rubio will jointly assume additional day-to-day responsibilities, including the Club's talent identification, acquisition, and management strategy, as well as full technical and high-performance duties. While Wolff will lead the sporting department as Austin FC's Interim Chief Soccer Officer, both he and Rubio will report directly to Austin FC Majority Owner and CEO Anthony Precourt.

"I'm confident in the leadership team that we have in place at our Club," said Precourt. "Josh is a tremendous leader and is without question one of the best coaches in North America. Working alongside Sean, whose talent and experience has been absolutely critical in our roster construction over the past two seasons, I have full faith that we have the people in place to continue to compete for trophies and make Austin proud."

In addition to Wolff and Rubio, Nolan Sheldon - who previously served as an assistant under Wolff for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons - will assume additional responsibilities within Austin FC's sporting operations, overseeing the connectivity between the Academy, ATXFC II, and the first team. Both Sheldon and Austin FC II Head Coach Brett Uttley will report directly into Wolff, as will High Performance Director Dave Tenney and Vice President of Sporting Operations Andrew DiLallo. The Austin FC Academy will now reside under the day-to-day oversight of Rubio.

Austin FC kicked off its preparations for the 2023 season on Friday, Jan. 6 with ten days of training at St. David's Performance Center. The team is now based at its preseason camp in Florida where it will be stationed from Jan. 16-27. After spending six (6) days at IMG Academy in Bradenton culminating with a match against Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Jan. 21, the Verde and Black will spend five (5) days in Orlando culminating with a match against FC Cincinnati on Friday, Jan. 27 in Clearwater.

After returning to Austin, the Club will host USL Championship sides El Paso Locomotive FC and Louisville City FC at St. David's Performance Center for friendly matches on Saturday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 11 respectively.

Upon the conclusion of preseason training, Austin FC will kick off its third season with back-to-back home matches at Q2 Stadium against 2023 MLS expansion club St. Louis CITY SC and last year's Eastern Conference runners-up CF Montréal on Saturday, February 25 and Saturday, March 4 respectively. ATXFC's first road match of 2023 will see the Verde & Black take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday, March 11 at American First Field in Sandy, Utah.

On the field, Austin FC had a historic 2022 campaign in which the Club finished second place in the MLS Western Conference and tied the league record for the largest points improvement by a second-year expansion team (+25). Austin also became only the third MLS team to advance through its first two rounds of postseason play in club history, defeating Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas to reach the Western Conference Final. In addition, the Club qualified for the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League by way of its fourth-place finish in the Supporters' Shield Standings.

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