Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications

Philadelphia Union has used its 59-day World Cup break to change its Sporting Director, its Head Coach, and, most recently, its Academy Director. The timing is fitting. World Cup starts for former Union homegrowns Matt Freese, Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, and Brenden Aaronson point to the success of the Union’s player development pathway. Their approach to these personnel changes indicates a similar commitment to development of staff from within.

Doubling Down

Recently appointed Sporting Director, Jon Scheer, has now implemented several changes to the coaching staffs of the Philadelphia Union, Philadelphia Union II, and the Union Academy. In all of these changes, Scheer has promoted from within the organization, doubling down on the Union’s commitment to identifying and recruiting talent, developing it over time, and promoting them as opportunities arise.

Ryan Richter, the new interim Union Head Coach, perhaps best reflects this. His coaching career began with the Union Pre-Academy in 2018, and he rose through the age groups. In 2022, he was named a first team Assistant Coach, and eventually was named Union II Head Coach at the start of 2025. This is the next step in a long-term progression, rather than a one-off decision.

Both new professional staffs

Here are the announced and apparent promotions together with the retentions. The organization itself has announced only the Union changes. For Union II, we rely on the reporting of The One Team We Agree On’s Jillian Almoney.

Notably, the goalkeeping structure remains unchanged. Director of Goalkeeping Phil Wheddon and his staff all remain in place.

All the officially announced new first team coaching positions are labeled “interim.” We assume the same applies to the second team ones.

As coaches are promoted up the ladder, they also broaden their responsibilities. Philadelphia’s coaches are being developed as professionals alongside its players. The detail explains why original Academy Director Tommy Wilson added “Professional Development” to his title several years ago and why Jon Scheer kept the multi-dimensional title when he succeeded Wilson.

A notable omission

Union Academy U-16s head Peter McDonnell is absent from this list. That the heads of the teams younger than his fill the ladder’s rungs in perfect sequence leads to the question why McDonnell was not included. That question in its turn leads to the highly speculative guess that perhaps he has been recruited to be somewhere other than Chester. June ends all of the Academy teams’ seasons, making it a logical time for transitions.

A continuous process

The timing of the Academy’s transition from one year to the next may explain why Academy-level coaching replacements have not yet been revealed. Those hires are as much a part of Sporting Director Scheer’s “to do” list as are his precisely, publicly stated roster intentions for the first team. Although he may no longer play as direct a role in implementing the academy hires, they will be made under his aegis.

Logically, his first administrative hire has been naming a new Academy Director to fill his own previous role. Scheer selected Paul Killian to succeed him. Killian was previously Philadelphia’s Head of Scouting, Academy and Professional Development.

With Killian in place and the end of the Academy team’s seasons here, replacement decisions for the three Academy coaching staffs should be forthcoming.