Incoming Toronto FC head coach John Herdman speaks during a press conference at the BMO Training Field in Toronto, on Aug. 29.Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press
As he was formally introduced as Toronto FC’s new head coach in a news conference on Tuesday, John Herdman said the opportunity “hit the bull’s-eye.”
Herdman stated that he’s joining the joint-last-place team in Major League Soccer because he wants to inspire a new group, and to work in a club setting, hands-on with players every day. As for leaving his position as head coach of Canada’s men’s soccer team, the 48-year-old said he felt in his gut it was time to go.
“There’s moments in your career where an opportunity comes up and it seems to hit the bull’s-eye with everything that you align to, everything that motivates you,” he said.
He called Toronto FC’s job “fresh” and said he was “ready for change.”
“I’ve had that feeling for a while. It’s not something that’s just crept up,” Herdman added. “I need a different path now, and this is it, and I’m excited.”
The Englishman has been at Canada Soccer since 2011, first coaching its women’s national team to a pair of Olympic bronze medals, and its men to their first FIFA World Cup appearance since 1986. Now the coach known for his culture-building strengths is leaving, just three years before the federation plays co-host to the World Cup.
“You feel it in your gut, you feel in your heart, that there’s a moment, it’s time to step off and go on and fulfill another dream,” Herdman said. “And that dream was to be on the grass with players day in, day out, developing people. We haven’t had that opportunity, probably since we were in our residences with the women’s national team.”
Toronto FC president Bill Manning said that the idea of Herdman coaching his club was first presented to him via a text from Herdman’s circle. Manning texted back, “Would he really be interested?”
Manning then texted Herdman directly about it, which led to an in-person meeting between Herdman, Manning and TFC’s general manager Jason Hernandez, which lasted some four hours and prompted further talks. Leaving that first meeting, the president said he and the GM knew Herdman was the front-runner.
“In his career, he’s taken teams that have been fractured, and he has built them into winners,” Manning said of Herdman. “Jason and I looked at each other, and I’m not sure who said it first … we just said ‘That’s our guy.’ ”
Under Herdman’s leadership, Canada reached 33rd in the FIFA world rankings in February of 2022 – the men’s highest position. While making their first World Cup in 36 years, they finished a disappointing 0-3 when they got there.
Herdman said he began to feel Canada’s men’s team needs “freshness, it needs a different voice.” Then there were the struggles Canada Soccer was undergoing as a national organization – financial constraints, leadership turmoil, and its labour disputes with national-team players. Canada Soccer spent a lot to prepare its men’s team for the 2022 World Cup, but it became clear the organization was cash-strapped going forward.
“I made a mission in my mind, and in the country’s mind, to qualify for Qatar 2022 which, back in 2018, was unthinkable to a lot of people,” Herdman said. “When we hit that target as a group, there’s something being achieved here, that you’ve fulfilled something for the country, you’ve laid a foundation for its future success. I think walking away gives an opportunity for someone else to come in and lift this team to another level.”
He spoke about the chapters of his career, including the five years he spent with the New Zealand women’s national team, the seven he coached Canada’s women, and the most recent five with the Canadian men.
“I think you go through these cycles as a coach,” Herdman said. “You’ve got to know when the right time is and, for me, that aligned with what seemed like the bull’s-eye opportunity. It fit my profile of, transformational leadership, coming into an environment where you get a chance to change something.”
Herdman will stay on at Canada Soccer through the end of September, so he won’t begin his new job with Toronto FC until Oct. 1. It’s already late in the MLS season, so that means he will only coach a few matches. TFC (3-13-10) sits in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, and only has eight matches left to play.
Terry Dunfield has been the interim coach, after replacing former head coach and sporting director Bob Bradley, who was fired on June 26. Herdman said Dunfield will be on his staff.
Herdman’s job in the early stages will focus on evaluating TFC players and identifying gaps. As the European transfer deadline approaches, it remains to be seen whether the team’s pair of high-profile Italian players will still be in Toronto when Herdman begins work. Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne, who arrived with team-changing potential, have underachieved so far.
The team aims to return to its previous glory. TFC hoisted the MLS Cup in 2017, and was also a finalist in 2016 and 2019.
“We’ve had a difficult time the last few years and I certainly as club president feel the weight of that and the responsibility of that,” Manning said.
“I think John Herdman coming in is going to be a real shot in the arm for this club. I yearn for the day when I look back on this day and say that was the turning point, and we’re sitting in a much better place in the standings, and hopefully with a few more trophies in a trophy case.”