North Carolina Courage’s sporting director and head of football, Dr. Ceri Bowley, announced in a press conference that the dismissal of head coach Sean Nahas was due to “a multitude of factors.” Nahas was fired from the NWSL club on Wednesday night.
The club issued a two-sentence statement about the decision at that time.
This has been something very recent. And the club has acted to make a decision based on the multiple factors that came to light, to make a decision in the best interest of the club going forward.
Dr. Ceri Bowley
Sources close to the decision reported that there are no ongoing investigations into Nahas.
Multiple sources indicated that the “multitude of factors”, a phrase that Bowley and a Courage spokesperson used repeatedly in the press conference, included the team’s record, inconsistent play, and a loss of confidence in the team’s direction by the management and some players.
North Carolina has a record of 5-4-5 (W-D-L) this season and is in ninth place, just below the playoff line. Bowley, who took office in April, oversees the coaching staff.
Nahas had been the head coach of the team for almost four years and was on the senior team in some capacity for the last eight years.
The standards of this club are extremely high. And it felt that there were reasons why we needed to make the change to maintain the standards we expect from the North Carolina Courage.
Dr. Ceri Bowley
Sean Nahas was abruptly fired by the North Carolina Courage on Wednesday.
Nahas was absent from three North Carolina matches in June “due to unforeseen medical reasons.” He returned to the field for the team’s friendly matches in July and for the first regular season match after the summer break, a scoreless draw at home against the San Diego Wave on Saturday.
A Courage spokesperson said at Thursday’s press conference that “there was no reason to say that the two [Nahas’s resignation in June and his dismissal] were related.”
The spokesperson confirmed that Nahas was at training on Wednesday, but both he and Bowley declined to comment further on the timing of the decision.
On Wednesday, hours before the news of his dismissal, Nahas posted a photo of himself with the Courage staff at training. He also appeared on a local radio program to talk about the team’s match against the Houston Dash on Friday.
Nahas did not respond to a request for comment.
Nathan Thackeray, the assistant coach of the Courage for the last eight seasons, will serve as interim head coach of the Courage, as he did in June. Bowley said there is no timeline for hiring a new head coach.
Under Nahas, North Carolina won the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2022 and 2023 before the tournament format was modified to a single match played between the NWSL Shield winner and the league champion.
Nahas took over as interim coach of the Courage in the fall of 2021 after the firing of Paul Riley following allegations of sexual misconduct against Riley in previous coaching roles in the NWSL.
Nahas became the full-time head coach of the Courage before the 2022 season. North Carolina qualified for the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, losing in the first round on both occasions.
The Courage struggled at the start of this season, despite the acquisition of American forward Jaedyn Shaw, who was already a playoff team. North Carolina did not win in their first five matches before climbing back up the table.
Nahas has been part of the soccer scene in the Raleigh, North Carolina area for almost two decades, including a prominent role in the Courage youth academy. Nahas’s brother, Damon, is the head coach of the University of North Carolina women’s soccer team and won a national title in 2024, his first season in charge.
Bowley only spoke briefly about Nahas’ mandate on Thursday:
Sean gives his heart and soul to his profession. He is like all head coaches who want to give their all to what their role is.
