Claudio Reyna has resigned as Austin FC’s sporting director, the Western Conference club announced Thursday, adding he’ll transition into a technical advisor role before the club’s third MLS season.
In addition to continuing as head coach, Josh Wolff will serve as Austin FC’s chief soccer officer on an interim basis. Sean Rubio, who was Austin FC’s director of player personnel since August 2020, has been promoted to interim sporting director as part of the restructuring.
Together, Wolff and Rubio will lead the Verde & Black’s talent identification, acquisition and management strategy, as well as full technical and high-performance duties. They’ll report directly to Austin FC majority owner and CEO Anthony Precourt.
“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,” Reyna said in a statement.
“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.”
Austin named Reyna their sporting director in November 2019 ahead of the club’s launch during the 2021 MLS campaign. He arrived after leading New York City FC’s inception as a 2015 expansion club (joined in 2013 as their first employee) until his exit for ATX and was replaced by David Lee, the Cityzens’ current sporting director.
Reyna’s shifting role arrives amid U.S. Soccer’s ongoing investigation into an incident pertaining to then-US men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter and events relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“We’re grateful for Claudio’s contributions to both our club and our community,” Precourt said in a statement. “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.”
Precourt added: “I’m confident in the leadership team that we have in place at our club. 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.”
Reyna helped bring Sebastian Driussi, the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP runner-up, to the club in July 2021. Several other Designated Player signings, namely winger Cecilio Dominguez and midfielder Tomas Pochettino, didn’t pan out as well for differing reasons.
This offseason, Austin have brought in striker Gyasi Zardes and center back Leo Väisänen to build off after last year’s dramatic turnaround. They finished 12th in the Western Conference as a first-year club (2021), then climbed to second (2022) with a 26-point season-over-season improvement.
Austin made the Western Conference Final in last year’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, losing to eventual champions LAFC. They’ll return to action on Feb. 25 when hosting expansion side St. Louis City SC (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
