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Jeff Kassouf
The Kansas City Current officially announced Chris Armas as head coach, as ESPN first reported in December, in the NWSL’s second such appointment of a former MLS head coach.
Former New York City FC coach Nick Cushing was named to coach the NWSL expansion Denver team, the first former MLS coach to move to an NWSL club.
Armas’ appointment to the 2025 NWSL Shield winners comes after a connection sparked by a mutual friend of Armas and Current co-owners Angie and Chris Long: Canada men’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch.
Kansas City announced in November that Vlatko Andonovski would relinquish his head coaching role to focus fully on being the club’s sporting director.
«Literally the next call was to Jesse, because he’s seen football at the highest levels,» Chris Long told ESPN.
Marsch attended Princeton University in the late ’90s at the same time as the Longs, and they remained friends. Marsch told the Longs that Armas, one of his former assistant coaches, was perfect for the job.
«We did run a full search, it’s just that Chris never left the top of the list» Chris Long said.
Armas has been the head coach of the New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC and the Colorado Rapids in addition to assistant and interim roles with the men’s teams at Manchester United and Leeds United.
He parted ways with the Colorado Rapids about two months ago and wasn’t sure what was next. He said he had been negotiating with the Rapids about an extension in some capacity since last April, «but it wasn’t meant to be moving forward.»
He hadn’t planned on moving out of Denver, and after talking with his family, he decided to be «very selective» about his next role, even if it meant a long wait.
Armas said he had some offers for various roles within MLS, but he wanted the right fit. Then came mid-November and the call from Marsch, who had just spoken with the Longs.
A day later, Armas was on a video call with the Longs, followed by Andonovski, and «everything felt right.»
Armas’ hiring comes as a surprise given KC’s status as the reigning Shield winner with two strong internal candidates in Milan Ivanovic — Andonovski’s top assistant at multiple teams for the past decade — and Freya Coombe, a former head coach in the league.
Both will remain as assistants under Armas.
«We obviously spent a lot of time with Milan and Freya,» Angie Long told ESPN.
«The amazing thing about them, as well as about Chris, is that everybody wants what’s in the best interest of the club and everybody is a hundred percent on board with the direction that we’ve chosen to go.»
Armas, she said, stood out for his shared style of play and game model along with his experience in different settings, especially with the New York Red Bulls and Manchester United.
«For what we’re building, for where we’re going, it was important for us to be able to bring in some new DNA in the organization,» Angie Long said.
«Somebody who has experience at the very highest levels, has experience in a multi-club organization working for a sporting director, and an understanding of how to work with everything that we’re doing with the second team, the developmental and youth side; someone who really knows that pathway and how to build it.
«We’re doing things that not very many other women’s teams in the world are doing — but there are a lot of soccer teams that are doing it; they just happen to be on the men’s side. So, a lot of that expertise of how to build something at scale comes from there.»
The Current won the 2025 NWSL Shield in dominant fashion, clearing the next best team by 21 points and conceding only 13 goals in 26 games.
But they fell short in the semifinals of the playoffs, and they must navigate the coming season with the added wear and tear of Concacaf group play — the only pathway to the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup that the Longs have said they want to win.
That record, combined with the Longs unprecedented investment in a stadium, training facility and business district, makes the Current job one of the most desirable in the world.
Chris Long said «some of the most tenured coaches in women’s football [were] interested» in the job. Armas’ only previous experience in the women’s game was coaching his alma mater, Adelphia University, from 2011 to 2014.
He said that he has been part of coaching and development on the men’s and women’s side, and «getting respect by giving respect.»
Angie Long said that any reservations among fans about the hire and Armas’ experience directly in the women’s game come without the full context of getting to know Armas as a person and a coach, something the Longs spent considerable time doing, including trips to New York to meet with him.
«We think about it as, how is he going to interact with our staff, with our players?» Angie Long said. «What’s he going to help us build? These are decisions organizationally that you spend a tremendous amount of time and resources and research on that I don’t think the fan base always knows.»
Chris Long said that there was some mixed fan reaction about the hiring of Andonovski in late 2023 after his difficult tenure with the United States women’s national team, but the Longs were confident in the hire, and it worked out successfully as expected.
Armas’ adaptation to the NWSL isn’t unlike changing leagues or his previous move from MLS’ Eastern Conference to its Western Conference, he said, which required a new level of understanding different opponents.
Armas has been busy studying opponents and the Current. He used game footage of Kansas City to ask questions and make points during the interview process, where he learned that, «in many ways, me and Vlatko, from leadership to football, we speak the same language.»
Armas said that his job in year one is to create an identity built off what’s already there in Kansas City, to provide clarity within that, and to «uphold and fight for the culture.»
Do that, he said, and results will follow in the league, the playoffs, and Concacaf.
«It’s a learning curve for me to learn the league and the different tactical setups, the player pool for sure, and then my team,» Armas said.
«What I’m most comfortable with is the way I see the game, and how I see leadership and how I see coaching, and then I just have to now apply that to my team. But the intensity, the verticality, the tempo, the pressing — that’s all going to be there. Now I have to apply it.»
Armas played for 12 years in MLS, primarily as a defender with the Chicago Fire FC, winning multiple trophies while being named an MLS All-Star on six occasions.
He made 66 appearances for the United States men’s national team from 1998-2005, although he missed out on World Cups due to injury. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.
