The news on Thursday came as a shock. Jim Curtin, a two-time MLS Coach of the Year, was out as manager of the Philadelphia Union.
It wasn't only outside observers who were picking their jaws up off the floor. It was those inside the organization as well. "Blindsided" was the word that came up often in talking to sources familiar with the situation.
That's because not only did Curtin enjoy considerable success during his 11-year tenure as manager, no one was as bonded to the club as he was. A native of nearby Oreland, Pennsylvania, and a Villanova University alumnus, Curtin's spell with the club, from his time in the academy through to the first team, was 14 years.
The decision is described by the organization as the proverbial parting of ways, with owner Jay Sugarman and sporting director Ernst Tanner praising Curtin's time with the club. But sources told ESPN that in reality, Curtin was essentially fired.
The Union failed to make the playoffs in 2024 for the first time since 2017, and Curtin paid the price. It's a decision that's as harsh as it appears. Sources said Curtin and Tanner met Thursday morning with Tanner informing Curtin they "want to separate," at which point Curtin stormed out of the meeting.
"Somebody had to be a scapegoat, and they scapegoated Curtin," one source familiar with the Union's inner workings told ESPN. "I think it's pretty clear: I think [Sugarman] had questions, and [Tanner] got to put it all on Curtin."
Much of the shock comes down to the fact that the Union, in many respects, has been a model MLS franchise for much of Curtin's time as manager. The team relied heavily on its academy, producing the likes of Mark McKenzie, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan and brothers Brenden Aaronson and Paxten Aaronson. Another member of its academy, 15-year-old Cavan Sullivan, is set to eventually join Manchester City.
This fruitful pipeline was combined with the front office wizardry of Tanner, who seemed to have an uncanny knack for finding diamonds in the rough such as left back Kai Wagner, center back Jakob Glesnes, midfielder Jamiro Monteiro and holding midfielder Jose Martinez, all of whom ended up becoming solid MLS contributors. Tanner also proved adept at capitalizing on the misfortune of his rivals, as he did by signing forward Julián Carranza from Inter Miami CF when the Herons were forced to jettison the player due to penalties for violating the league's roster rules.
Combined with Curtin's savvy coaching, the Union became an unlikely league power, reaching four finals, twice progressing to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions League (now the Concacaf Champions Cup) and securing the 2020 Supporters' Shield. The Union were within a nanosecond of winning the 2022 MLS Cup, only to be undone in heartbreaking fashion by Gareth Bale and LAFC in the final.
The Union also gave MLS a feel-good story. Here was a frugal organization that remained competitive and proved to be counterweight to high-spending teams such as Atlanta United FC, and later, Inter Miami.
That success masked an uncomfortable truth, though. Relying on academy products and unheralded signings is the ultimate high-wire act in MLS. The Union's spending remained firmly in the lower half of the league. According to the latest salary data by the MLS Players Association, the Union ranked 26th out of 29 teams this year.
Teams employing such an approach can't miss -- on anything. The academy has to continue to produce, never a sure thing given the vagaries of player development, and signings have to come through. If they don't, then a backslide is inevitable, and that is precisely what happened with the Union.
As so often happens in these instances, it's the manager who takes the fall. The fact that all it took was one bad season for Curtin to get the ax remains a head-scratcher; most of the sources that ESPN spoke to put most of the blame on Tanner.
"[Tanner is] clearly the issue internally," one source familiar with the Union's inner workings said. "No loyalty, poor communicator, hardly around."
Tanner also appears to have lost much of his touch in the transfer market, with signings such as Andrés Perea and Joaquin Torres two examples of players who didn't deliver for the Union, a sentiment echoed by multiple sources ESPN spoke to. Meanwhile, Tanner transferred players out in a bid to bring in revenue. Both of the Aaronsons and McKenzie are in Europe, and Martinez and Carranza left in the middle of this season, with Martinez now with Brazilian side Corinthians and Carranza at Feyenoord in the Netherlands.
One source offered a counterargument that players such as Perea have succeeded elsewhere, in his case with New York City FC, thus validating Tanner's assessment. Tai Baribo was also held up as an example of a player who struggled for playing time when he arrived in 2023, but down the stretch in 2024, he was the team's best striker, scoring 16 goals in 26 matches across all competitions.
The implication is that Curtin needed to get the new signings on the field quicker. He was criticized by one source for not doing more to bring along young players, and was accused of "not developing our team."
"The team's done well and sold players. And that model, it's super hard to sustain that," one former staffer said. "And then it finally crumbled because you kind of emptied the drawers and it's hard to fill them up in MLS."
There's also been something of a brain drain in Philadelphia in recent years. Current Nashville SC manager B.J. Callaghan left in 2019. Technical director Chris Albright and assistant coach Pat Noonan decamped for FC Cincinnati two years later -- multiple sources suggested Albright acted as something of a buffer between Tanner and Curtin.
All of the departures served to make Curtin more isolated, and in turn vulnerable. While it's not unusual for other teams to raid the staff of successful clubs, for the Union, those departures weren't so easily replaced. One source described a knock-on effect.
"It's just been an erosion of culture, complete erosion and [increased] mistrust," that source said. "And all the players would die for Curtin and can't stand Ernst."
Internally, the team's performance is being described as the motivation behind the decision. One source suggested that Tanner felt the team had underachieved, and not just in 2024. One source said the team's running statistics were "dead average" when compared to MLS, and not good enough for a team that plays a high-pressing style, while another recalled Tanner criticizing Curtin's substitution patterns.
It speaks to a lack of alignment between sporting director and manager. Sources painted a picture in which there was respect between Tanner and Curtin, but the relationship was far from rosy.
"There was always tension -- it's professional sports -- but it wasn't anything that was out of the ordinary," one source said. "The thought of a GM and a head coach sitting down and going out to dinner and laughing all the time, I just don't think that happens really anywhere. So was it the worst I've ever seen? Was it the best I've ever seen? No. The best thing I can say is [the decision] was sudden and not a lot of us saw it coming. I don't think any of us saw it coming."
Curtin will have no shortage of suitors. His reputation for maximizing available resources remains intact.
The future looks cloudier for the Union.
Much of what made the club special has now been cast aside because of one poor season. The winning DNA that Curtin brought, his understanding of youth development, as well as his connection to the city, is a confluence of attributes that will be extremely difficult to replace in one package.
Sure, Tanner could regain his touch in the transfer market, but that seems less certain now. Plenty of momentum has been lost. The onus is now on him -- and Curtin's replacement -- to re-create the magic.