Ben Olsen hired to coach MLS’s Houston Dynamo

HOUSTON (AP) — Ben Olsen was hired as coach of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo, two years after he left D.C. United.

Olsen was hired Tuesday to replace Paulo Nagamura, who was fired on Aug. 8. Dynamo 2 coach Kenny Bundy served as senior team interim coach for the rest of the season.

The Dynamo missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season, finishing 13th among 14 teams in the Western Conference with 10 wins, 18 losses and six draws.

Olsen, 45, played for D.C. from 1998 to 2009 and took over as head coach in 2010. The team had 113 wins, 137 losses and 84 draws during his tenure and made the playoffs in five of the last six years. United won the U.S. Open Cup in 2013.

Olsen was voted MLS Coach of the Year in 2014.

He was hired by the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit as team president in September 2021 when Steve Baldwin resigned as CEO and managing partner after coach Richie Burke was fired for violating the league’s anti-harassment policy.

Olsen quit in May after helping oversee the team’s first NWSL title and the transition of majority ownership to Michele Kang.

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