U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart steps down to take PSV position

The United States Soccer Federation has had another major figure announce his departure. Today, the federation announced that sporting director Earnie Stewart is leaving his position and will accept a role at Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. Stewart will remain in the role until February 15th, and an immediate search for a new sporting director will begin. U.S. Soccer also confirmed the earlier reported departure of Brian McBride as USMNT general manager, effective January 31st.

U.S. Soccer announced that they have retained Sportsology Group to lead the search for the next sporting director. Sportsology has already been involved with U.S. Soccer’s post-World Cup review of the USMNT program and will analyze potential head coaching candidates. U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson will be the person all sporting staff will report to during the transition. The federation plans to hire a sporting director first, and then that hire will oversee the hiring of the new USMNT head coach. Anthony Hudson, who was named as the temporary coach for the USMNT for their current January Camp matches, will continue as interim head coach until a permanent hire is announced.

In a press conference this morning, U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone called the opportunity to hire a new sporting director, general manager, and USMNT head coach a “clean slate” for the federation, and she reiterated that the process will be thorough and will not be rushed. She also stated that she hoped to have a sporting director in place by this summer’s Women’s World Cup, but that they did not want to stick to a timeline for hiring a sporting director and, ultimately, a head coach.

“Earnie has had an immense impact on our sporting department and on soccer in this country during the last several years and dating back to his playing days for the National Team, and we are incredibly grateful for his leadership in helping develop the next generation of players in the United States,” Cone said in a statement released by U.S. Soccer.

“When the opportunity arose to return to the Netherlands to pursue an exciting and challenging role that was near my family, I could not turn it down,” said Stewart in a statement. “I am extremely proud of what our sporting department has accomplished over the past four years to advance the next generation of players and increase participation in the sport across the country. This is a pivotal time for the sport in the United States and I have full confidence in the leadership of U.S. Soccer heading into 2026 and beyond. It has been an honor to represent the U.S. Soccer Federation again in this capacity and I look forward to continuing to support U.S. Soccer in my next chapter and in the future.”

Brian McBride also posted a statement to his Twitter account shortly after the announcement.

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