Paulo Nagamura hired as Houston Dynamo Head Coach

On Tuesday, a report emerged that former Sporting Kansas City midfield and SKC II head coach, Paulo Nagamura, would be hired as the new coach of the Houston Dynamo. The report came from Glenn Davis, the play-by-play announcer for the Dynamo.

Nagamura, 38, replaces Tab Ramos, whose contract wasn't renewed following the 2021 season. The search was conducted by new Dynamo GM Pat Onstad.

How did Nagamura do with Sporting KC II?

Nagamura and Sporting KC II mutually agreed to part ways as Paulo wanted to pursue other opportunities. In four seasons as Sporting Kansas City II manager, Nagamura recorded a record of 30-61-25, as the organization focused on youth development.

He also served as an assistant with the team in 2017. During his time with the team, the Brazilian coached 15 of the organization's homegrown players, as well as 23 academy products. Included in this group is current Venezia and United States international midfielder Gianluca Busio.

Nagamura's professional playing career

Paulo has a storied professional career having come through first the youth system in Sao Paulo before joining Arsenal’s academy. He played professionally for the LA Galaxy, Toronto FC, Chivas USA, Tigres (Liga MX) before retiring from playing as a member of Sporting KC.

U.S. Soccer Achievements

He won an MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup double with LA Galaxy. With SKC, Nagamura won two more U.S. Open Cup titles as well as another MLS Cup crown in 2013. Overall, he made over 270 appearances, scoring 15 goals.

He’s not the first former Sporting player to join the coaching ranks, following guys like Josh Wolff (Austin FC) and Davy Arnaud (who was briefly the interim manager for the Dynamo).

He may be the first coach to come from Peter Vermes' "coaching tree," although general manager Mike Jacobs of Nashville SC also hails from SKC.

The Dynamo are under new ownership and will look to turn around a franchise that has fallen into a bit of disarray over the years. If they can, this hire may add just a bit more heat to the recently cooling rivalry between SKC and the Dynamo.

Last week, Houston were linked to former Mexico Olympic team coach Jaime Lozano when canvassing for their next head coach.

Nagamura's reported appointment would follow a trend of new head coaches coming from within MLS, including Ezra Hendrickson to Chicago Fire FC and Pat Noonan to FC Cincinnati earlier this offseason.

In other Dynamo news, striker Maximiliano Urruti signed on Tuesday with in-state rivals Austin FC. A former FC Dallas player from 2016-18, Urruti is set to become the first player to make appearances for all three Texas clubs in MLS.