FC Cincinnati parts ways with head coach Jaap Stam

CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati have relieved head coach Jaap Stam of his duties, effective immediately, the club announced today.

Tyrone Marshall, currently the head coach of FC Cincinnati’s U-19 squad and future U-23 team, will assume the duties of head coach on an interim basis, and the search for a new head coach is already underway.

“During our nearly two-month process to identify the next General Manager for FC Cincinnati, it was apparent that a head coach change was necessary. Therefore, after a great deal of deliberation, the club has made the decision to now move to the future with Jaap no longer serving as head coach.” FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding said. “We believe a change in leadership is in the best interest of the club at this time, and a new General Manager will lead the search for a new Head Coach. We are an ambitious club, and we remain focused on achieving our goals, the first of which is making Cincinnati a championship city. We thank Jaap for everything he has done for FC Cincinnati during his time here, and we wish him the best as he can now head home to be with his family.”

In addition, the club has decided to part ways with assistant coaches Said Bakkati who came with Jaap Stam in 2020, as well as Yoann Damet. Damet began his tenure with FC Cincinnati in 2017 and was a part of the brilliant Open Cup run to the semifinals that year, and also assisted in our USL Supporters Shield in 2018. On two occasions, Yoann served as interim Head Coach. Berding added, “FC Cincinnati thanks both Said and Yoann for their dedicated work and commitment to the club, with Yoann having been a part of the club’s finest moments. We know that both have long coaching careers in front of them and trust they will see success.”

Marshall joined FC Cincinnati’s Academy coaching staff in February of 2021 from Real Salt Lake, where he had been an assistant coach for the Utah MLS club since 2015. In his playing career, Marshall made over 300 MLS appearances with five different clubs between 1998 and 2012. He is a two-time winner of MLS Cup (2002 and 2005 – LA Galaxy) and a three-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup winner (2005 – LA Galaxy, 2009 and 2010 – Seattle Sounders FC). The Jamaican international appeared over 85 times in his career with the national team, scoring five goals.

“Tyrone has been a valuable addition to our coaching staff since he arrived earlier this year with plan to be the future coach of our MLS2 team,” said Berding. “He has shown his coaching ability and leadership qualities, and he is the right person to inject new energy into the locker room and help our squad finish 2021 strong with an eye to the future.”

FC Cincinnati continue a two-game road trip Wednesday at Toronto FC. Kickoff from BMO Field is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on WSTR 64, carried on the radio on ESPN 1530, streamed regionally on fccincinnati.com/stream, out of market on ESPN+, while an audio stream will be available via the iHeartRadio app.