Sporting KC parts ways with Brian Bliss

Sporting Kansas City announced Monday that they have “mutually agreed” to part ways with Technical Director and Vice President of Player Personnel Brian Bliss. Bliss had been with the club since 2016.

During his tenure, Sporting KC missed the playoffs twice (2019, 2022), finished in the top half of the conference twice (2020, 2021) and finished eighth in the conference in 2023, making the Western Conference playoffs. This move comes after Sporting KC’s third straight 2024 league loss — a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Crew — and their ninth in their past ten league matches.

In the press release, the club noted they will make an announcement regarding the leadership of the technical staff in the coming days. What this means for other senior members of the club, including Peter Vermes and Jake Reid, remains to be seen. Previous reporting by the Kansas City Star has suggested Vermes will be safe this year.

Bliss had been a member of Sporting Kansas City for a total of 15 years, including as a player, assistant coach, interim head coach, technical director and Vice President of Player Personnel. He played for the Kansas City Wizards in 1998 before moving to the coaching side in 2000. He served as interim head coach in 2006 before moving to the Columbus Crew as Technical Director in 2008, and the Chicago Fire in the same role in 2014. He returned to Kansas City in 2016 as Director of Player Personnel and added the Technical Director title in 2019.

This is the second major move Sporting KC has made with their staff this year after they hired, then fired, Gavin Wilkinson as Sporting Director.