The Verde Report: With Josh Wolff Out, Austin FC Enters New Chapter With Focus on Results
Rodolfo Borrell begins the search for a new head coach
By Eric Goodman, Fri., Oct. 11, 2024
It’s a whole new era for Austin FC.
The city’s first major league pro sports team will have its second-ever head coach when the 2025 season kicks off, after the club parted ways with OG gaffer Josh Wolff Sunday following its elimination from playoff contention. Future coach-to-be-named-later be warned: Mediocrity will not be tolerated.
That’s the message Sporting Director Rodolfo Borrell made crystal clear in his Monday remarks following Wolff’s ouster, a decision Borrell took full ownership of.
“You have to set some certain level of expectation, and we very clearly mentioned [qualifying for the playoffs] at the very beginning [of the season],” Borrell said. “The expectation has not been accomplished.”
Borrell added that the decision also came down to an assessment of Wolff’s entire four-year body of work. At the end of the day, 45 wins out of 135 matches and three out of four years missing the playoffs just didn’t cut it, even when factoring in some of the obstacles out of Wolff’s control that hampered the club during his tenure.
“Our on-field ambitions are to be among the highest performing clubs in MLS year-over-year,” Borrell said in his statement Sunday. It had become clear enough that Wolff was not the man to make that happen. And so, as one era ends, another begins.
Austin FC is Borrell’s club, now more than ever. The braggadocious Spaniard now gets the chance to hand pick a coach – his coach – that he feels can take Austin to the upper echelon of Major League Soccer. Attracting interest in the job doesn’t sound like it will be a challenge for Borrell, who boasted that at least 25 coaches had already reached out to him about the position in the 24 hours following Wolff’s firing. “Names that you couldn’t even believe,” he assured in his distinctly Trumpian way.
Whoever Borrell eventually settles on, whether it’s a name we can believe or not, is going to have their hands full. Austin FC is still an incomplete roster without a double-digit goal scorer this season. Star midfielder Sebastián Druissi is rounding off his worst season in Austin, and record signing Osman Bukari has yet to look worthy of his more than $7 million transfer fee.
It’s Borrell’s hope, too, that a new coach has better luck connecting with the ATX fanbase than Wolff did. The buttoned-up Atlanta native never truly felt like a personality match for the loud, proud, eccentric supporter culture Austin FC has cultivated.
“The capacity to engage with people and with the fans... is one of the factors that you put on [a list of coaching qualities], and at the end of the day, that makes sense for our environment, for our city,” Borrell said.
Above all, though, the coach that Borrell hires, and eventually Borrell himself, will be judged by results on the pitch. That’s how it should be. With Austin FC now four full seasons removed from its MLS expansion debut, there are no more excuses. It’s win, or GTFO.
One Wolff Goes, Another Wolff Stays
Borrell could not have been clearer. Josh Wolff’s exit does not affect the status of 19-year-old midfielder Owen Wolff – the departing coach’s son – in any way, shape, or form.
“I think he [Owen Wolff] is one of the young players with the most potential in the country,” Borrell said.
Only three teenagers in MLS have clocked more minutes on the pitch this season than Wolff, who is in line to appear in 33 out of 34 regular season matches. He’s contributed a goal and four assists on the year. Austin FC’s Oct. 19 season finale will be Wolff’s 86th career MLS appearance, and the first under a coach to whom he is not blood-related. (Assistant Coach Davy Arnaud has been confirmed as the interim coach for that match.)
Wolff was frequently the subject of baseless claims of nepotism from misguided fans and media members who wrongly believed that he only saw the field due to being the coach’s kid. Borrell had thoughts on that, too, volunteering that in his opinion the younger Wolff has been treated “very unfairly” during his time with Austin FC.
While it surely must sting for Wolff to see his father lose his job, the reality is that life is likely going to get much easier for him under new leadership. He’ll finally get to be just another player in the locker room, rather than the son of the boss.
“I have to say that the maturity that Owen is showing at such a young age is phenomenal, because it’s not easy at all when a family member, in this case, your father, is the head coach of a team and you are a player,” Borrell said. “You have to understand that this player is surrounded by other players who at some point may make comments, as it is normal in many other football clubs, about the coach.”
In addition to Wolff, Borrell confirmed that both Dani Pereira, who has a contract option for 2025, and Driussi are expected back with the club next season, barring any unforeseen offers the ATXFC might receive for their services.
