Inside the Fallout Between Jim Curtin and Philadelphia Union

A few weeks after the end of a disappointing 2024 season, long-time Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin was summoned to sporting director Ernst Tanner’s office.

Tanner got right to the point and said the club wanted to part ways with Curtin. Curtin stormed out of the meeting. That detail was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle. The decision had been made and when the news came out Curtin’s time as manager was done, it was a shock on the outside.

Curtin and Tanner together had pushed the Union to success previously unseen for this club, a consistent level of winning that vastly outperformed their level of spend — routinely among the lowest first team spend in MLS between salary and transfer fees. They won the 2020 Supporters’ Shield, the club’s first and only trophy, while becoming a model club in terms of development and selling players abroad.

Publicly, Curtin called Tanner the best sporting director in MLS and Tanner spoke highly of Curtin, who was twice named MLS Coach of the Year along the way.

At the same time, sources with direct knowledge of internal dynamics between the coaching staff and front office — specifically Curtin and Tanner — weren’t surprised. The relationship had broken down over the last 12-18 months, with multiple sources with direct knowledge of the dynamic saying the pair “didn’t speak” to each other.

One source with direct knowledge of internal dynamics in Philadelphia called it “toxic” and placed the blame on Tanner for that, adding: “Ownership trusted the wrong people.”

Another source wouldn’t go that far, but said “nobody can argue Ernst is the best communicator.”

One source around the league said the decision to fire Curtin was “so f—ed up”. One prominent agent said he saw it coming due to the bifurcations between Curtin and Tanner. “Something had to give there,” the agent said.

“This is not a personal decision”

At the bottom of it all was the simple disagreement between Tanner and Curtin about the direction the club should be going, and a relationship that frayed over time to the point of no return.

All sources were granted anonymity to protect relationships.

“This is not a personal decision we took here, we have a lot of respect for Jimmy and what he did,” Tanner told media on Monday. “We had a good collaboration and we had good times.”

Curtin was the second-longest tenured manager in MLS at 11 years. Tanner and Curtin held the longest GM-head coach tenure in the league at six years, as Peter Vermes is both CSO and head coach in Sporting KC.

Tanner arrived in Philadelphia in October of 2018. The team he inherited made the playoffs with a possession-based system under Curtin. Tanner signaled a shift to a new tactical and club ethos, something Curtin bought into. The pair would agree to multiple contract extensions after Tanner took over.

Cracks began to grow between the two for some time. For instance, the most recent negotiations for a contact extension took longer and were a little more contentious than expected. At the end of the day, Curtin got the extra year of security he sought, but sources say he wasn’t thrilled how hard he had to fight with Tanner to get it done, especially given the fact his resume could have gotten him bigger contract offers elsewhere.

Those issues grew in 2024 to a point that Tanner and the Union felt they needed to go in a new direction to improve.

“Over the course of the last year, we felt we are not aligned in what we are doing here,” Tanner said. “I had that feeling, we had a discussion about what we’re expecting before we extended his contract. Unfortunately, things did not turn out how we talked.”

Style of Play and Youth Development

As the relationship broke down between the front office and coaching staff, ultimately three key reasons that went into this decision.

The biggest gripe from Tanner’s perspective was Curtin not fully adhering to Tanner’s tactical vision of high-pressing and transition, sources said all season. Internal physical metrics showed Philly were middle of the pack in categories they want to see the team in the top five of — categories better reflect that preferred style of play.

“I want to get back to what made us successful, our playing style,” Tanner said.

Owner Jay Sugarman added: “It would have been easier to stay the course. I like continuity, I know what Jimmy can do. This was the hard decision — It really came from Ernst’s assessment of, what do we need to do to get to that final step?”

The second was a belief the team weren’t fit enough or being pushed enough in preseason preparation and training by Curtin and the staff. The Union dropped 27 points from winning position this season, most in MLS and a key reason they missed the playoffs. Sources cited a high number of off days during the season.

Other sources would say that stat has a high-level of variance and randomness, plus the fact that star goalkeeper Andre Blake played just 13 regular season games. Philly conceded 15 goals from outside the box, most in MLS. Only four were with Blake in net.

“If we were in Europe, I probably would have taken this decision (firing Curtin) earlier,” Tanner said, referencing the late spring/early summer swoon that eventually sunk Philly’s season. Tanner believed Curtin earned the chance to turn things around this season, sources said at the time.

The last big one was what the front office believed to be a lack of promoting youth players, sources said. Tanner also addressed that.

“We have been stagnating the last two or three seasons,” Tanner said. “Winning comes out of good development, not just young players. The football we played this season was just not good enough.”

The Union actually had the most homegrown minutes played in MLS in 2024, with three key starters all homegrowns: Nathan Harriel (23), Jack McGlynn (21) and Quinn Sullivan (20). Tanner wanted to see more players pushed through and not just homegrowns developed.

One source with direct knowledge gave Tanner more credit for youth development than Curtin. Tanner is highly-regarded in this side of the game for the work he did in Europe, particularly as academy director of RB Salzburg. Tanner set the methodology and reworked the academy structure, but Curtin put the players on the field in positions to succeed. He did so with the likes of Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie and others throughout the years.

“We’re using development to be a winning team. … This makes a lot of sense for us,” Sugarman said. “We think it’s the right way to win. There are other ways to win, this is not a conventional strategy.”

There were more sources of friction, something that is not abnormal in working relationships between the front office and coaching staffs. Differing views on first team signings played a part. Veterans like Alejandro Bedoya and Kai Wagner had public, prolonged contract disputes before both eventually returned for 2024. Curtin particularly publicly backed Bedoya every time he was asked.

Another was the delicate handling to develop 15-year-old academy product Cavan Sullivan, who will join Manchester City when he turns 18. While Tanner was in Europe this summer, Curtin elevated Sullivan to be always be in first team training. It was something Tanner wasn’t aware of as it happened. He wasn’t against Sullivan’s elevation to the first team, but it highlights the fact the two weren’t speaking to each other or collaborative.

Curtin cited Sullivan’s handling of the jump up to MLS Next Pro with the Union’s second team. That messaging irked the front office, as Curtin dismissed other performances from Union II players by saying the jump from MLS Next Pro to MLS is steep.

What’s Next?

Curtin immediately becomes a top coach available on the market — if not the top coach — to MLS clubs if he intends to immediately return to management.

Atlanta United are huge admirers of Curtin, something that was back-channeled to Curtin after the club parted ways with Gonzalo Pineda in the summer. Curtin politely declined the opportunity to be part of Atlanta’s coaching search in the summer, as GIVEMESPORT first reported. Curtin loves the Union, is a local hero for the club and has been hesitant to uproot his family with his kids still in school.

Sources expect Atlanta to try again now that Curtin is gone from Philly, if they haven’t called already.

There has been interest in Curtin from abroad in the past, including one English Championship club.

As for Philly, the club will double-down on their ethos of youth development and tactical view of high-pressing/transition soccer. They have begun their coaching search as well. They will cast a wide net and will consider candidates with and without MLS experience.

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Jim Curtin out as Philadelphia Union head coach: Sources

The Philadelphia Union have parted ways with head coach Jim Curtin, sources confirm to GIVEMESPORT.