The Columbus Crew have a new head coach. Wilfried Nancy will lead the club starting with the 2023 season.
Nancy was most recently head coach at CF Montreal from 2021-2022. Montreal finished the ’22 season with a club-best, regular-season record of 20-9-5 and Nancy earned second in voting for the 2022 MLS Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year award.
“I would like to thank Dee and Jimmy Haslam, Dr. Pete Edwards, and Tim Bezbatchenko for this opportunity,” Nancy said in a press release. “It is truly an honor to be the next head coach for the Crew, and my family and I are excited to settle in and become part of the Columbus community. I am looking forward to working closely with Crew 2 and the Academy program. I’m eager to get started and welcome the players back on January 6 as we begin our quest to bring another trophy to Columbus.”
Nancy will be the club’s eighth coach, succeeding Caleb Porter. Porter was fired in October after four years in the position when the Crew failed to make the playoffs for the last two years.
“We are thrilled to welcome Wilfried to Columbus as the next head coach of the Crew,” said Tim Bezbatchenko, Columbus Crew president & general Manager. “Throughout this process, it was clear that he is a knowledgeable, insightful and innovative coach with extensive experience within the different levels of the North American soccer landscape. We know he is the right person to lead the team back into the postseason as we contend for championships.”
Nancy was a professional player for various French clubs for a decade before joining Montreal’s Academy in 2011. Over the next 10 years, he worked his way up the ladder at Montreal to become head coach.
For more information, visit columbuscrew.com.