Union

Notes and Quotes After Union Fire Reigning MLS Coach of the Year Bradley Carnell and Name a New Sporting Director

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 28th, 2026 · 10:38 AM EDT

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The Philadelphia Union fired Bradley Carnell on Wednesday, a little more than six months after he won the Supporters’ Shield in his debut season. He’s the reigning MLS Coach of the Year.

The team is dead last in Major League Soccer and has gone from first to worst after selling and trading a number of key players, like Kai Wagner and Jakob Glesnes. They brought in reinforcements who have largely failed to make an impact while experiencing regression from guys like Jovan Lukic and Olwethu Makhanya, who played big roles in last year’s trophy-winning campaign.

In addition to firing Carnell, they promoted academy director Jon Scheer to Sporting Director. Scheer has been with the organization since 2018, and he spoke on Thursday morning alongside Union owner Jay Sugarman:

• Sugarman went first, noting that the team doesn’t need to change its approach or its philosophy. They just need to do it better. This tells me they’re going to continue with Moneyball, which I think we all expected. As long as Sugarman is in charge, they will be a developing and selling team that looks to unearth foreign diamonds in the rough. They’re not going to spend big on superstar talent.
• “We missed on some targets,” said Sugarman. “We know getting the right players in the right positions, getting balance and depth, and playing our proven style will be successful.”
• Scheer is one of those guys who pronounces the word “forward” as “foe-word.” He thanked Bradley Carnell for his “effort, commitment, and professionalism” over the past year and a half.
• Sugarman says the decision to fire Carnell was collaborative. “This was a consensus decisions that we needed to move in a different direction.” He says he didn’t see gelling with the players and there was a “loss of confidence.”
• Ernst Tanner is going through Major League Soccer’s restorative process and they will wait to see how that plays out. Sugarman says Tanner was planning to step back from his role at the expiration of his contract, and communicated that to ownership, though it’s not confirmed yet. Sugarman says they “needed certainty now,” which is why they decided to promote Scheer at this moment, but he didn’t rule out Ernst being involved in some capacity moving forward.
• They believe in interim head coach Ryan Richter and aren’t going to rush a head coaching decision. It may or may not be before the season resumes in July, after the World Cup break.
• As far as who brought in this current crop of players, Scheer says he was “part of the sporting leadership group,” but holding an academy role at the same time. He said the process “goes months in advance,” and more or less confirmed that most of the incoming and outcoming transfers and trades were in the works before Ernst Tanner was suspended.
• Sugarman says it’s a “stretch” to bring in a coach with a different strategy and approach. They’re going to commit to their style of play and organizational philosophy.
• Sugarman said Carnell’s firing had nothing to do with public comments made by the coach. He pointed out that he doesn’t pay much attention to those kinds of things and was looking for more progress on the field.
• More Sugarman: He says money will be available to Jon Scheer in this next window, and says this was an important year to upgrade the roster. He thinks they have great young players in the system and they need veterans to bring leadership as well. “I know Jon is committed to finding the right balance… I don’t think we need to change anything in that respect, the fans have seen that over the past 6, 7, 8 years.”
• Sugarman was asked if he ever plans to sell the team, and he responded by saying that they’re still building this team and franchise and need to keep doing the things that make them successful. “We’re committed to it, ownership is committed to it, staff is committed to it…”
• “This is something we know how to do, this year we’ve just struggled to execute” – Sugarman reiterating that nothing is wrong with the larger philosophy and approach
• (some unremarkable stuff here about youth players and whatnot)
• Scheer says he’s not into changing styles game-to-game. Shades of Earnie Stewart back in 2016 when asked why the team can’t play anything different than a 4-2-3-1. CliffsNotes: they like their style and their identity and they aren’t going to deviate.
• Sugarman said a few times that it’s a bummer that the team stinks (paraphrasing) during a World Cup year when there are a lot of eyeballs on the U.S. and American soccer

It was a pretty good presser. We got some clear answers on a number of topics. Say what you will about Jay Sugarman as an owner, but he is generally pragmatic and honest at the podium. The Union have been clear about who they are and what they believe in, so whether we like that or not, at least we’re not being bullshitted. Tanner was the same way when he spoke to the media. Maybe his German bluntness rubbed off on everyone. I think he’s as good as gone, and is a bigger loss than Carnell, because while the coach did an excellent job last season, Tanner was the architect. They can find another guy to coach Red Bull soccer.