Angel City FC sporting director Mark Parsons said he does not expect to have a full-time head coach on the sidelines until June.
"The journey that we're on and the way the process is looking right now, I believe the head coach will be here in June," Parsons said. "What I know is that they won't be here at the beginning of March, like I previously shared was one option.
"The availability of the candidates that are left in the process are all available in June, and in the next few weeks, I hope they'll be able to give a more concrete update."
Parsons declined to specify the number of candidates left in the process, or if June availability meant that they are all based in Europe.
Sam Laity, a longtime Seattle Reign assistant and former Houston Dash head coach, has been serving as Angel City's interim coach since the start of preseason.
Angel City opens the NWSL season on March 16 at home against San Diego Wave FC (6:50 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and ESPN+).
Parsons, a former NWSL Championship-winning coach, signed as sporting director in January and soon appointed Laity as interim coach. Parsons had previously said that the club could hire a full-time head coach before the season, but he ruled that out on Thursday.
Parsons said he takes comfort in spending a large portion of the season without the head coach in place because of Laity's decade-plus of experience in the NWSL.
"I want to really credit Sam," Parsons said. "I think Sam has been refreshing in an elite environment and high-performance environment. He is rewarding behaviors and performance in training. He is rewarding behaviors and performance in games."
Angel City is the only NWSL team with an interim head coach in place ahead of next week's season-openers. There is a recent precedent for NWSL teams waiting for a coach to arrive and still having success.
Last year, the Washington Spirit - who had a coaching vacancy after firing Parsons as head coach at the end of 2023 - hired Jonatan Giraldez to become their new head coach, but the team waited for Giraldez to arrive until he finished the European season with Barcelona. The Spirit finished second in the league and made it to the NWSL Championship.
Angel City finished 12th in the 14-team NWSL last year after a difficult season that included the first points deduction in NWSL history - a 3-point hit in the standings levied by the league for salary cap infractions.
Becki Tweed was fired in December after one full year in charge as full-time head coach, and the club mutually parted ways with former general manager Angela Hucles Mangano.
Parsons effectively replaced Hucles Mangano's role.
Laity said the club has briefed him on what they want the longer-term identity of the team to look like, regardless of who is hired.
"I've approached it as though I'm the head coach because I have to, otherwise it's not authentic for the players," Laity said on Thursday.
"I'll be quite honest, it's been really seamless. It's been a very, very easy environment to operate and to work in, and everybody's here for the same reason. We want to get a world-class product on the field as soon as possible."