San Diego FC named Mikey Varas its new head coach, the club announced Monday. Varas is the first head coach in the organization’s history.
“As we prepare for our inaugural season, Mikey’s leadership, desire to win now and his deep understanding of player development make him the ideal choice to guide our club forward,” said SDFC chairman Sir Mohamed Mansour in a statement.
Varas most recently was the interim head coach of the U.S. men’s national team. From 2021 to 2023, Varas was the head coach of the U-20 U.S. men’s national team. During his first 14 months in the role, he had an 8-3-3 record, which included leading the U.S. to a Concacaf U-20 Championship title.
Before joining U.S. Soccer, Varas was an assistant coach for FC Dallas from 2019 to 2021.
“I am honored to join San Diego FC as the club’s first head coach,” Varas said in a statement. “The opportunity to build something special from the ground up, with such ambitious and committed ownership and in a city with such a passionate fan base, is truly exciting.”
SDFC will compete in MLS as an expansion club starting in 2025.
What Varas will bring to SDFC
Varas built his career through the youth ranks in California at a number of clubs before going to Sacramento Republic and then FC Dallas. He eventually was hired to Luchi Gonzalez’s first-team staff, and then took on the job as U.S. under-20 coach. After qualifying the 20s, Varas moved over to Gregg Berhalter’s staff with the USMNT and most recently served as interim manager for two ugly results, a 2-1 loss to Canada and a 1-1 draw with New Zealand.
That Varas has grinded his way to this point, though, is admirable and now he’ll get a chance to manage in MLS with a high-profile team that will have plenty of eyeballs watching. They already have a star player in Mexico winger Chucky Lozano, but San Diego undoubtedly is going to be built around player development as they are partly owned by Right to Dream. Varas’ background in development was likely a critical part of his hire, but it’s a big first job. — Paul Tenorio, national soccer writer
(Photo: John Dorton /ISI Photos /USSF / Getty Images)
