Eagles

Jim Curtin on the Andy Reid Trajectory with Multi-Year Contract Extension

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 11th, 2023 · 2:08 PM EDT

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This had been reported a few weeks back but goes official today, Tuesday:

⚡️ AD FINEM FIDELIS ⚡️

Philadelphia Union has signed Head Coach Jim Curtin to a new, multi-year contract extension.

📝 https://t.co/reqfhGk1Qp#DOOP pic.twitter.com/gI2FFCWtSm

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 11, 2023

He’s now under contract through 2026, according to the story. At that point, he’ll have been the Union head coach for 12 full seasons, plus a half-year under the interim tag.

Curtin is the second-longest tenured coach in Major League Soccer and has been in charge of the Union longer than Nick Sirianni, Nick Nurse, John Tortorella, and Rob Thomson combined and multiplied by two. He may end up being the longest-tenured pro coach in Philadelphia going back for quite some time now, so as a quick check, I went down the list and found:

• Eagles: Andy Reid’s 14 years spanned 1999 to 2012
• Sixers: Billy Cunningham’s 8 seasons spanned 1978 to 1985
• Flyers: Fred Shero’s 7 seasons spanned 1971 to 1978
• Phillies: looks like a tie between Gene Mauch and Charlie Manuel for 9 seasons each

There are longer-tenured coaches at the college and high school level, but at the pro level right now, Jim Curtin is chasing Andy Reid and nobody else. He just eclipsed Cunningham and Shero and will pass Mauch and Manuel at the end of this season. If Jim makes it to 2028, he’ll have matched Andy Reid’s tenure, which really is incredible if you think about it.

EDIT – Some people are mad that I didn’t put Connie Mack on here. The Athletics moved almost 75 years ago, so that’s why he was left off. But if you wanted to make a case for his inclusion as a general “pro baseball” thing, then sure. Nobody will ever match the decades he spent in charge here.