Fall out, Schmid named sporting director as RSL restructures management, staff following 2023 campaign
Fall out, Schmid named sporting director as RSL restructures management, staff following 2023 campaign
The longtime Real Salt Lake employee and Salt Lake City native who joined the club as an intern in 2007 will depart the club when his contract expires this winter.
After a third-straight playoff berth following the 2023 campaign, Real Salt Lake is shaking up its front office and coaching staff.
Pablo Mastroeni isn’t going away, but there will be plenty of change around him — starting at the top.
Longtime RSL general manager Elliot Fall will soon exit the club, replaced by technical director Kurt Schmid in a new chief soccer officer role as sporting director. Assistant general manager Tony Beltran, the former RSL defender who has been in the front office since shortly after he retired in 2019, will also take on an increased role in running all three of Real Salt Lake (MLS), Utah Royals FC (NWSL), and Real Monarchs SLC (MLS NEXT Pro) in addition to the RSL Academy.
News of the shakeup was first reported by the Athletic. A global search for RSL’s next general manager will begin immediately, RSL president John Kimball said.
Fall, a longtime Real Salt Lake employee and Salt Lake City native who joined the club as an intern in 2007 and rose up to assistant GM in 2014 before promotion to the full-time GM role in 2019 will depart the club when his contract expires this winter.
Amid an ongoing ownership change that shifted power and resources from construction and real estate billionaire Dell Loyo Hansen to joint ownership with Philadelphier 76ers executive David Blitzer and Utah Jazz majority owner Ryan Smith, Fall made several big-money signings — including a club-record $6 million deal with forward Chicho Arango and a then-club record U-22 initiative signing of Andres Gomez from Colombia’s Millionarios FC.
But after a hot start to the 2023 campaign and setting a mark as the best road team in MLS, Real Salt Lake stuttered towards the playoff line before finishing fifth int he Western Conference.
That led to several offseason changes. First, the club released midfielder Scott Caldwell and forward Danny Musovski, while also declining contract options on Damir Kreilach and homegrown Julio Benitez. Kreilach, the multi-year team captain and former Designated Player, remains in discussions with RSL about returning to the club.
The club also announced Friday that assistant coaches Matt Taylor, Brett Jacobs and Ignacio Hernandez would not return for the 2024 campaign, when Salt Lake returns a core group of players that include Arango, Gomez, forward Jefferson Savarino, midfielder Diego Luna and goalkeeper Zac MacMath, among others.
“First, I wish to express the utmost gratitude and appreciation for everything that Elliot accomplished during his 17 years with Real Salt Lake,” said Kimball, RSL’s first-ever employee upon its establishment in 2004 who returned as club president in September 2020. “Elliot’s enthusiasm, positivity, eagerness to learn and his overall love of the game imbued each of his various posts over the years with innovation and success. His stewardship of the team during his five years as general manager, steadily guiding us to the postseason despite change and volatility all around us, will never be forgotten.
“We also wish to acknowledge what Matt, Nacho and Brett have brought to our club. Their collective years of blood, sweat and tears dedicated to RSL and our community will always be appreciated, and each individual should take great pride in their accomplishments here.
“Change is always difficult, but the growth and evolution of Real Salt Lake and all the teams that comprise our Club is necessary each and every day. As we enter our 20th season of existence, our ambitions demand a renewed approach as we pursue trophies and championships on the field, and seek to further deepen our connections off the pitch. I look forward to working more closely than ever with Kurt, Tony, Pablo and everyone involved as we take RSL and each of our teams to unprecedented heights.”
Taylor, who spent most of his professional career that spanned 2003-2017 overseas, came to RSL in 2021 after serving as an assistant at his alma mater UCLA for three seasons.
Jacobs joined the staff in 2022 after two years with MLS side Nashville SC, where he helped head coach Gary Smith guide the club to a third-place finish in the regular season and playoff appearances in Nashville’s first two seasons in the league. He previously worked with Mastroeni with the Colorado Rapids from 2008-2013, including winning MLS Cup in 2010.
Hernandez, nicknamed “Nacho,” played 15 seasons professionally in his native Mexico before retiring to become a goalkeeper coach. He worked closely with the RSL Academy from 2012-15 before Mastroeni added the veteran developer of in-goal talent to his staff ahead of the 2021 season.
Schmid joined RSL before the 2021 season as technical directors and has worked alongside Fall in executing the signing of first-team players, while also developing the club’s internationally recognized youth development pipeline. Prior to his time with Real Salt Lake, the 40-year-old son of late MLS legend Sigi Schmid began his career as an assistant coach and scout with the Seattle Sounders in 2009 before being promoted to head scout and director of player personnel ahead of the club’s 2014 Supporters’ Shield, 2016 MLS Cup title and four U.S. Open Cup championships.
Schmid also worked in player personnel with the LA Galaxy in 2017, and was the technical director at Inter Miami for the club’s inaugural season from 2019-21.
Additionally, the Athletic reported Thursday that RSL were in advanced discussions to bring back former star striker and head coach Jason Kreis in a non-coaching role. It would be the return of the MLS Cup winner from 2009 to the club where he spenet seven seasons, amassing a 111-87-69 record across all competitions that included an MLS Cup final appearance in 2013.
Kreis left RSL to be the first head coach at New York City FC, but was fired two years later and named the manager at Orlando City SC from 2016-18. Following an appointment to the United States U23 national team for two years, Kreis was briefly hired as the head coach of Inter Miami’s USL League One affiliate in Fort Lauderdale before joining the first-team staff as an assistant coach under Phil Neville in March 2021.
Neville attempted to lure Kreis to Portland when he was named head coach of the Timbers earlier this year, according to the Athletic. But a homecoming to the Wasatch Front instead appears likely.