Sporting KC Need a CSO Soon or they Risk 2026 also Being a Lost Year

The Chief Soccer Officer is an interesting thing. Not every team has one. And the ones that do, don’t always even call them the CSO.

Sporting KC are a great example. Peter Vermes didn’t have the CSO title until the ill-fated hiring of Gavin Wilkinson ahead of the 2024 season. But don’t kid yourself, he was always the CSO.

So, what is a CSO exactly?

While it can vary from club to club, it’s essentially one person at the top of the soccer side of the business making the overarching decisions. Giving the team a tactical identity. Deciding what types of players fit that identity.

Often the CSO hires the coach, the Sporting Director/General Manager, scouts, analytics staff and all the rest of the soccer staff. Or at least they are in charge of the people that do the hiring. When things go well, they get some of the credit. When it goes wrong, they inevitably shoulder some of the blame. But often, they escape blame, and it falls on the coach, right or wrong.

Back when Vermes was fired, Sporting KC managing owner Mike Illig told the Kansas City Star, they are looking for a CSO:

“Well, that job is now open too, and Illig told The Star this week he is “absolutely thinking” that the club could begin anew a search for the proverbial chief soccer officer. A head coach and chief soccer officer would each report directly to ownership, just as [Kerry] Zavagnin and [Mike] Burns are today.”

Since that story on April 13th, it’s been radio silence out of Sporting KC headquarters on the status of hiring a CSO. However, this team is notoriously tight-lipped. There are rumblings that the CSO search is progressing, but there is no timeline on when that announcement will come.

It needs to happen soon.

And they need to get it right.

The CSO needs to start evaluating the existing players and coaches. Is Kerry Zavagnin the guy for the job? Does he want to keep Mike Burns as the second in command underneath him? Beyond that, he needs to start building a staff. There are reports the team only has one full-time scout, Jacob Peterson, on staff.

There are some interesting names that have become available in recent weeks. Notably, Corey Wray from CF Montreal, by way of the Columbus Crew. But Sporting KC aren’t the only team looking to make a move. Across the state, St. Louis City SC let go of Lutz Pfannenstiel, who had the Sporting Director title, but was their CSO.

Until there is a CSO hired in Kansas City, there won’t be a permanent coach. Nor should there be. 2025 has been a lost season. There have been a few developmental steps taken by players, but on the whole, everything was set back a year when Vermes was fired seven games into the season, instead of before or after the year. Or years ago.

It was an odd way to start a rebuild. Though, don’t ask Illig, as he said, “I’ve never once said this is a rebuild.”

The search for a CSO continues. And if the search drags into the offseason, not only is 2025 lost, but 2026 could be too.

The three transfer window rebuild went out the window when Vermes was fired. That was never more evident than when a team that has glaring needs everywhere, signed a single player in the summer window. And that was a loan. Just another player the team needs to make a decision on.

Presumably, the “largest budget in club history” is still on the table. The team spent a great deal this past offseason, primarily for Designated Players Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia.

But before there can be more players, the first big decision needs to come from Mike Illig. Until then, even though he’s coaching for his job, Zavagnin needs to find out what this team is made of down the stretch. The team has lost four straight and are winless in their last six. A similar run ended 2024 and drug on into 2025.

Please don’t put everyone through that again.

The next move off the field could set the team up for years of success or years of pain.