KC Current
Kansas City Current appoint Chris Armas as Head Coach
Kansas City Current have their new leader
The Kansas City Current have appointed Chris Armas as the club’s next head coach. It was previously reported but is now official. Armas joins the reigning NWSL Shield winners after most of two decades coaching in MLS.
The move is his first job in professional women’s soccer. Armase did spend four years as head of women’s soccer at Adelphi University between 2011 and 2014. At Adelphi, they went to back-to-back Northeast 10 (NE10) Tournament final appearances in 2012 and 2013. He then moved to MLS as an assistant with the New York Red Bulls in 2015. Armas was part of the Supporters’ Shield-winning staff in 2015 and then went on to assume the head coaching role at New York mid-season when Jesse Marsch left and won another Supporters’ Shield in 2018. He coached the Red Bulls for 71 games with a 33-11-27 and a 46.48 win percentage.
Armas left the Red Bulls in 2020 and had a brief fifteen-game stint as head coach of Toronto FC (2-3-10 13.33 win%). He was then an assistant coach for Manchester United (2021-22) and Leeds United (2023) in the English Premier League, even serving as co-interim head coach of Leeds United.
His next stop was at the Colorado Rapids for the 2024 and 2025 seasons (30-17-35, 36.59 win%). After making the playoffs in 2024 and a good run in the 2025 Leagues Cup, the Rapids and Armas agreed to mutually part ways after missing the playoffs in 2025.
“We are beyond excited to welcome Chris to the Kansas City Current family,” said co-owners Angie and Chris Long via press release. “He brings an abundance of experience at the highest levels both as a coach and a player and shares in our long-term vision of the Kansas City Current being the best women’s football club in the world. A natural leader, Chris demands excellence, and we are confident he will further cultivate and enhance our competitive environment as we continue to pursue championships and expand our global footprint.”
Armas joins a team that ran away with the NWSL Shield race in 2025 but will be challenged to navigate the coming season with the added wear and tear of Concacaf group play with a weakened roster. The Current and the Longs have indicated they want to make it to the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup and they will have to advance through the group play to achieve that goal.
“I am honored to be named head coach of the Kansas City Current,” said Armas via press release. “Angie and Chris Long have built a top-notch organization with excellence in all that they do, and I’m grateful for their trust. From the talented group of players, the facilities and passionate fan base, this club represents a world class environment. Above all, it’s the culture and the people that impressed me most. I’m inspired by the shared vision of the ownership and staff, and I will do everything I can to help make the KC Current the best women’s football club in the world.”
As a player. Armas was a standout midfielder in MLS with the LA Galaxy in 1996-97 and Chicago Fire FC from 1998 until his retirement in 2007. He notched 12 goals and 48 assists across 264 MLS matches and won the 1998 MLS Cup, 2003 Supporters’ Shield and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006).
Armas earned 66 caps and scored two goals for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) between 1998 and 2005, and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2025.
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Still seems kinda meh, but it could work. The Rapids were pathetic the year before he was here and they scrapped into the playoffs the first year and were trending that way again, but let Djordje Mihailovic walk and sunk slowly below the line.
Oh, and Bia is officially gone. Crap!
What feels weird to me is not Armas himself, I’m willing to give him a chance, but an uncertainty about what other possibilities might have been out there. I get it if SKC don’t blow us away with a coaching hire, their recent history doesn’t exactly grab the imagination of a job-seeker. But the Current are arguably in the top tier of global women’s teams, including their facilities, and it just seems strange that the best possible candidate was a somewhat-moderately successful men’s coach with very little experience in women’s pro leagues.
When I first saw this announcement, I mistakenly thought it was for SKC and thought “OK, that figures”. When I realized it was the Current I felt they were shooting low. But I’ll be happy to be proved wrong.
Ditto to all that.
Oh, and Bay announced signing Alex Pffeifer to 3 year deal. I REALLY want the tea on all that.
Agreed on Armas. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but it seems like the Long’s friend (Jessie Marsch) told them to hire him and they just did. It feels like they could have had almost anyone.
Not to mention, why are you talking to Jessie Marsch and taking his advice when Vlatko is right there??
And I need more on the Pfeiffer situation. Still makes zero sense to me.