Bruce Arena was named head coach and sporting director of the San Jose Earthquakes on Thursday, marking his return to MLS more than a year after being placed on administrative leave.
His extensive role in San Jose is similar to his responsibilities at both the LA Galaxy and the New England Revolution, and he replaces Luchi González after his dismissal in June; Interim Ian Russell managed the team for the remainder of the season.
The club has entrusted the Arena with a massive rebuild ahead of the 2025 season, much needed after a dull 2024 campaign. The Earthquakes sat in last place in the Western Conference this season, conceding a league-record 78 goals in the process. . The Earthquakes have also struggled over the past decade, missing the playoffs in three of their last four seasons and also failing to advance beyond the first round of the postseason every year since 2012.
Arena is one of the most decorated coaches in MLS, having won five MLS Cups between his stints at DC United and LA Galaxy and four Supporters’ Shield titles, the most recent of which came in 2021 with the Revolution. However, he has also been out of the picture since July 2023, when the league opened an investigation into him for “inappropriate and insensitive comments.” He was placed on administrative leave in September 2023 and resigned from his job shortly after.
Arena has not delved into details about the investigation, although in a recent interview with ESPN he said that “it was just personal joking between them in private. I accept any criticism and will move forward.”
In order to accept another job in the league, Arena needed to petition MLS commissioner Don Garber, who appears to have approved the coach’s return. On an episode of CBS Sports Golazo Network’s Kickin’ It, Arena claimed that he was cleared by MLS in December 2023, but that the league’s “lack of communication” about his status hampered his job prospects.
“I’ve had conversations,” he said. “I think there was a little miscommunication around the league about my status. I was cleared in December and no one knew… I talked to a couple of teams and I think some of the information wasn’t communicated properly, but we.” I’ll leave it at that.”
Arena told ESPN that he took some corrective actions to overcome the incident that led to his suspension, although he did not share specifically what work he did.
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