The Swope Park Rangers have mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Marc Dos Santos at the conclusion of the United Soccer League season, the club announced today. Dos Santos, who became the team’s first-ever head coach in late 2015, will return to the North American Soccer League with 2017 expansion side the San Francisco Deltas.
“Similar to our philosophy with players, we want staff members who have ambitious goals,” Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes said. “Marc is someone who has played a big role in helping get the Swope Park Rangers off the ground, and he has been presented with an opportunity that he sees as a big step in his career. We thank him for all his work with our club and look forward to the next evolution of the Rangers.”
“Sporting Kansas City is a fantastic organization,” Dos Santos said. “The fans are incredible and the vision of the club is very clear. Peter Vermes and Kerry Zavagnin have given me all the tools to succeed. I don't have enough words to thank them for everything they have done for me and for the belief they have in my work. I’ve learned a lot from them and I’m very privileged to consider them as friends.”
The 39-year-old Montreal native has led the Rangers to a 8-9-5 mark so far in the club’s inaugural season, with the side firmly in the hunt for a playoff spot in the USL Western Conference. Two of Dos Santos’ signings, Amer Didic and Tyler Pasher, were added to Sporting KC’s roster ahead of their Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League opener on Tuesday night. Didic went the full 90 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Central FC.
Prior to joining SPR, Dos Santos was named NASL Coach of the Year in 2015 after leading Ottawa Fury FC to a first-place finish in the Fall Season and advancing to the Soccer Bowl, only to fall to the New York Cosmos.
Dos Santos began his career with hometown team the Montreal Impact in 2007, initially taking charge of their reserve side, Trois-Rivieres Attak FC, in the Canadian Soccer League. After several honors with the reserve side, Dos Santos was added to the Montreal Impact’s technical staff in mid-2008 before becoming head coach in 2009.
A USL First Division title followed in 2009 before the Impact transitioned first to the USSF Division 2 in 2010 and then to the NASL in 2011. In 2012, Dos Santos moved to Brazil to focus on youth development with FC Primeira Camisa U-20s and SE Palmeiras U-15s – with whom he won a Copa do Brasil U-15 championship.
After a stint as technical director of Desportivo Brasil, Dos Santos returned to Canada to take charge of Ottawa Fury FC ahead of their inaugural NASL season in 2014.
