Austin FC fired head coach Nico Estevez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell on Monday after the team won just three of this season’s first 14 matches.
Davy Arnaud was named interim manager ahead of the MLS club’s next match this Saturday at St. Louis City SC.
“We are grateful to Rodo for his tireless dedication to improving the Club,” Austin FC chief executive officer and majority owner Anthony Precourt said in a news release. “Ultimately, we believe this decision is in the best interest of Austin FC. We know that our fans and our community deserve a winner, and our ownership group will continue to make the necessary decisions in order to deliver consistently strong results across competitions.”
“Nico has been a trusted ambassador for Austin FC and Austin during his time as head coach,” Precourt added. “We believe this team can compete for a playoff position, and given our results thus far, a change is necessary to achieve our goals of qualifying for the playoffs this year and becoming a consistent winner in this League.”
Winless in its past three matches, Austin (3-6-5, 14 points) sits in 13th place in the 15-team Western Conference. The club lost 2-1 at home to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday following a 5-0 road loss to San Diego FC on Wednesday. Prior to that, Austin tied Minnesota United FC 2-2.
This is the second coach firing in a span of less than 24 hours.
The Columbus Crew announced Sunday night that they dismissed first-year coach Henrik Rydstrom just 14 games into his MLS tenure. The Crew (3-7-4, 13 points) are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference.
Assistant Laurent Courtois has been appointed interim head coach.
“We unfortunately have not capitalized on opportunities or produced the results that our club and supporters deserve,” Crew general manager Issa Tall said.
Back in Austin, Borrell, 55, became the club’s sporting director in June 2023, replacing Claudio Reyna.
Estevez, 46, was hired in October 2024 as the franchise’s second full-time head coach, replacing Josh Wolff. Estevez previously was the head coach at FC Dallas from 2022-24.
Last season, Austin finished sixth in the Western Conference and made the MLS Cup playoffs. The team also was runner-up in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup.
The 60-day midseason pause that begins after this weekend’s match affords Austin a natural period to make this transition.
Arnaud, 45, has previously served as interim manager for Austin FC in 2024 when he led the club to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids on the final day of the season. His interim coaching experience also includes nine matches with the Houston Dynamo in 2019.
–Field Level Media
